Spring Showers
by Alt.Magnus
Summary: What starts off as just another day for the Hedgies turns out to be the first day in a week of discoveries and struggles. COMPLETED.
1. Just Another Day Over the Hedge

**Spring Showers**

Chapter One: Just Another Day Over the Hedge

"Come on, move it, move it!" RJ commanded the others as the burst forth from the Johnson's home, carrying with them the fruits of a very successful raid. They had easily evaded the security system, Hammy using his speed and agility (and RJ with his handy laser pointer) to slip easily into the home and deactivate the system.

Everything moved like clockwork. They moved just as smoothly as they had done on the past hundred raids or so. Since last year when RJ had officially joined the family, they had worked out their raid routine down to the smallest detail, ensuring that they always brought back what they would need (or want, truth be told) while making sure minimal damage was done to the homes of their human "benefactors."

Even then, they couldn't help messing around with any of the suburbanite's heads once in a while.

"Hey Verne, you got what you wanted?" RJ yelled back, seeing Verne carrying out two or three boxes full of low-fat, no preservatives food alternatives to the otherwise "junk" food that the family had a tendency to favor.

"Yeah! This should be good for the triplets and me!" Verne said happily. Said triplets were dragging out bags of assorted chocolate bars, six packs of soda, and bags of flavored potato and tortilla chips. Thankfully, Penny and Lou were helping out Verne carry out a few more bags of assorted healthy foods for them and their kids.

"Let's go Tiger! We've got what we wanted!" Stella dashed out, tossing a few more packages of food onto the red wagon Tiger was hitched to.

"Did you forget anything, Stella dear?" Tiger asked, looking over the haul, as well as Stella herself, with a smile.

"Nope, I'm sure that's everything we wanted and then some." As soon as Stella jumped onto his back, he took off, blazing past the rest of the Hedgies, beating them to the hedge and disappearing into the thick foliage.

"Come on everybody, Ozzie can't hold them off for long!" RJ reminded them. Ozzie, and his backup, his loving daughter Heather, were keeping the human idiots busy out in front of the home. They had started the raid when the humans left, but apparently, they had returned after a quick trip to supermarket… a block away. "Lazy humans." RJ half sighed, half chuckled to himself.

"Okay RJ, let's get out of here!" Ozzie called to RJ, Heather tailing right behind him before the two of them dove into the greenery. RJ mentally checked off who had already escaped and realized one member of his family was missing. "Hammy!"

He quickly ran through the backyard, finding Hammy struggling to pull out a huge bag of cookies through an otherwise tiny opening.

"Come on Hammy, just leave it, we'll get more!" RJ tried to convince the young squirrel to ditch the bag of chocolate chip cookies.

"I can't leave them!" Hammy futily pulled at the bag. "I like the cookies!" RJ pulled him away from the bag and looked straight at him.

"Hammy, I promise you we'll get more cookies!" He pleaded with Hammy. RJ pulled one of Hammy's hands and firmly tugged, trying to urge the squirrel to ditch the cookies, as hard as he knew it would be. The squirrel turned and, looking at the urgency on his best friend's face, nodded and let go of his remaining grip around the bag, trusting the raccoon's promise. They ditched the bag of cookies and quickly sprinted off into the hedge, disappearing as the voices of the human's came into earshot.

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"WAHOO!" Quillo, Bucky, and Spike dashed back and forth between anything that stood in their way, working off the sugar and caffeine from the carbonated beverages they had just consumed, running with speed rivaling Hammy's around and into everything from trees and bushes to parents…

"OOF!" Penny and Lou caught Quillo and Bucky, while Spike continued his sugar charged reign of terror.

"WHEEEEEEEEEE!" The little blur of spikes circled everyone, laughing raucously, enjoying the sugar rush.

"WHOA THERE!" Stella jumped from the way of the running ball of spikes. "Whoever said never to run around with scissors never dealt with the sugar-crazed porcupine!" Stella said.

"That's a good one, my lovely ebony goddess." Tiger chuckled. Stella eventually realized that she was in the arms of her lover, being carried bridal style, and blushed.

"Uh, thanks Tiger." Stella replied simply as she hopped down from his arms, one of the few times she was at a loss for words. "You did really well today." She added. She

had to admit, she was impressed at his show of strength over the past few raids, being able to carry more and run so much faster than before. "But still…" She returned to her senses. "You're not doing well enough. If I had tossed in one more bag of marshmallows, I bet you couldn't move an inch!" Stella smiled at him.

"Then I'll work to become stronger and faster, mon cherie." Tiger flexed his arms and listened to Stella's giggle… and inevitable remark.

"Showoff."

Still, he loved the admiring looks he would get from her when she looked at him while she thought he wasn't looking. Then again, she was the inspiration for him to get off of his fat butt and get some exercise into his routine.

But she still has yet to get him to swim yet.

"WATCH IT!" Verne yelled out to the others, hoping to dear heavens that no one would run into the sprinting ball of thorns.

"Yeesh!" RJ dodged Spike and ran directly into Ozzie and Heather. "I'm starting to regret introducing soda to the kids." RJ sighed as he shook his head.

"Well, they were bound to get to it someday." Ozzie said.

"Too bad they can't really control themselves when they get their hands on some soda. Just a little and they go all cuckoo." Heather added, hiding the fact that she had a Super Mega Ultra Gulp behind her back.

"Yeah, well, they're kids after all." RJ chuckled as he strained to keep track of the grey, spiky blur, getting ready to jump again if he should come back that way.

"Hey RJ…" Heather started. "You did a really great job today." She commended him. "Thanks for guiding us, like you always do." A slight blush formed on her cheeks and looked away from RJ. Part of her was hoping that he would notice how much she had grown up over the years he had been with them; just to garner a little attention from the handsome raccoon.

"You should really thank your dad, Heather." RJ put his hand on Ozzie's shoulder and smiled to him. "Without such a great thespian as your father, who knows where we'd be." RJ thanked him, to which Ozzie returned with a bow.

"You're very much welcome my dear director." Ozzie replied, feeling proud of the recognition being bestowed upon him.

"Dad!" Heather rolled her eyes, embarrassed by her father when she was trying to get RJ's attention. Some things never do change.

"GOTCHA!" A yell caught everyone's attention. When everyone turned and looked, they saw a red blur catch up to the grey, spiky blur and bring down the sugar hopped up porcupine into an uncontrollable giggle. Spike may have been fast, but no one was faster than Hammy, no matter how much sugar or caffeine they consumed.

"Great job Hamsquad!" RJ ran up to the squirrel and helped him up.

"Oh, thank you so much Hamilton." Penny said as she gathered Spike into her arms. "I swear, I'm going to really have to watch what you and your brothers are eating or drinking."

"Yeah, the last thing we want is for you or anyone else to get hurt when you go on another spree." Lou warned the brothers sternly. "So no soda for a week." He added. Quickly, the three brothers began to protest their father's decision. But soon, their protests were hushed as they crashed from their sugar highs.

"You okay, Hammy?" RJ asked, wondering if he had gotten any quills into his skin. "Did you get poked anywhere?"

"Nope, I'm okay RJ." Hammy quickly stood up and smiled up to the raccoon.

"You didn't drink any soda or one of those newfangled super caffeinated energy drinks, did you?" Verne asked cautiously.

"Don't need it Verne." Hammy replied, much to Verne's relief.

"Hey Hammy, why don't you come with me for a second?" RJ said, pulling him away from Verne and the others. RJ quickly winked at Verne, to which Verne just nodded,

understanding that RJ just wanted Hammy to follow him.

"Okay! Where are we going?" Hammy quickly asked.

"Just over there. I want to show you something." RJ said with a sly smile growing on his face.

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"Hey Hammy, are you okay?" RJ asked as they walked through the undergrowth, heading towards some secretive place only RJ seemed to know about.

"Um, yeah, I am." Hammy said, though a noticeable frown was plastered over the young squirrel's face.

"Still wishing that you were able to bring that bag of cookies home, huh?" RJ looked to him, sympathetic of how the squirrel must be feeling. After all, he had left one

container or two of Spuddies before.

"They were chocolate chip cookies!" Hammy whined, regretting how much he had to leave them behind. "And it was such a big bag!"

"Hey, hey, Hamsquad." RJ stopped and made Hammy look to him. "I did promise that we'd get more cookies, right?'

"Well, yeah." Hammy said, somewhat nervously. RJ's smile grew wider as he pulled away from him.

"Just stay there for a second." RJ continued to move backwards until he was by a short, large bush.

"What are you…" Hammy stopped in the middle of his query when he saw RJ push aside some of the branches and reveal to him…

"The Chocolate Lover's Pure Delight Cookies, Warehouse-Size." RJ smiled proudly. "25 pounds of chocolate, caramel, walnuts, almonds, and mint, packed into cookies as large as manholes." He continued to explain. "And it's all yours."

"Whoa!" Hammy was in awe, staring up at the huge bag of cookies that towered over him and RJ. "RJ, how? Where?" Hammy turned his attention to RJ, leaning against the bag with a wide grin.

"Go on, dive in!" RJ chuckled. Immediately, Hammy disappeared into a blur. RJ was about to turn to the bag to watch Hammy rip it open and dive in when…

"Thanks, RJ." Hammy appeared in front of him. Immediately, Hammy gave him a big hug, holding him tight and murring ever so softly.

"Uh, you're very welcome, Hammy." RJ took a second to let the situation register in his head before deciding how to respond. He returned the hug with earnest. "You deserve it, buddy." RJ whispered to him. They stayed together for a little while, just letting Hammy hug himself out.

Truth be told, he kinda liked it when the red squirrel gave him hugs. It never failed to make him feel happier, no matter how good or bad his day would be. And Hammy always did seem to know when a hug would do him best. But sometimes, he wondered why it had such an effect on him.

"Hey, come on, Hammy! Don't keep those delicious cookies waiting for you!" RJ shook them out of the tender moment.

"Okay!" Hammy broke the hug and perked up. He dashed up to the top of the huge bag and started tearing it open. In a few seconds, cookie crumbs began to shower from above.

"Hey Hammy! Not so fast! You'll give yourself a stomachache!" RJ warned him.

"RJ, try some! These cookies are absolutely, positively, awesomely great!" Hammy held up a fourth of one of the huge cookies before tossing it down.

"Whoa! Thanks Hammy! Looks delicious." RJ chuckled.

"Do you think the others would like some?" Hammy poked out of the bag again, cheeks full of nuts and caramel.

"Sure, I think they'd love to have some!" RJ said.

"So let's bring it to them!" Hammy scampered down. "But they only get to have one cookie!" Hammy stated.

"I'm sure one cookie will be enough for everyone." RJ stated as a matter of factly. One cookie was as big as a manhole after all. The two set off, dragging along the huge bag, as heavy as it was, to the rest of the family.

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If you have any advice or suggestions, please feel free to review me. All flames will be ignored.

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	2. A Dark Secret

**Spring Showers**

Chapter Two: A Dark Secret

"PPPBBBBBBTTT! "YUCK!" Quillo spat out all of the offending liquid out of his mouth, disgusted at such a weird taste. He expected to savor the sugary, fizzy taste of a thirst quenching soda, only to taste the bitter taste of the weird liquid. That and even a sip of the stuff made him feel dizzy.

"QUILLO! What are you doing?" Lou walked up to Quillo and inspected the can where the drink came from.

"What is that?" Verne came up to the porcupines after hearing Quillo shout.

"Quillo here apparently was trying to sneak another drink of soda, but instead ended up drinking this…" Lou read the name of the beverage. "beer."

"What is that?" Verne inspected the can. He sniffed the drink and cringed at the smell. "Do humans actually drink this stuff?"

"What are you guys talking about?" RJ emerged from his little area, resting after having consumed his fill of the various foods they had gotten from today's raid, in addition to a small part of one of the super-sized cookies he and Hammy brought back.

"It's this drink that the boys brought back. I think they mistook it for soda." Lou explained, figuring what had happened.

"Anyways, I think we should just throw this stuff away." Verne looked over the remaining five, unopened cans. "I don't think this stuff is healthy for any of us." And his tail agreed with him, tingling like crazy, almost as much as when he had first met RJ.

"Nah, it's okay." RJ inspected the open can. It was definitely one of the brands he had come across before in his past travels. "It just makes you a little dizzy. Just don't drink too much of it." RJ said. "Then it's not good for you at all." RJ took a gulp of the stuff and let out a refreshed "BURP! Eh, not bad." RJ knocked back another gulp.

"Well…" Verne tentatively gave the drink another look. It didn't look that appetizing and the smell still repulsed him a bit. However, he and his tail had been wrong about first impressions before. RJ was the perfect example. "Here goes nothing." Verne took a small sip of the stuff and choked it down. "OOOMMMPPP!" Verne quickly shut his mouth and ran to the nearest bush. Lou and Quillo jumped in surprise when they heard a weird sound, followed by a loud, thick splash. Everyone cringed when they realized what happened.

"Okay, I'm convinced this stuff isn't healthy at all." Lou, with Quillo in tow, commented.

"Yeah, who would want to drink something that made you barf?" Quillo added. And with that, the father and son left for the log for some sleep.

"OKAY, THAT IS DEFINITELY A POISON!" Verne shouted as he walked (well, stumbled) back to where RJ was.

"Alright, alright, I'll get rid of this stuff." RJ sighed resignedly. Then again, he recalled that the times when he would actually partake of this particular human beverage were among the lowest in his life. He even wondered about knocking down some of this stuff when he was on Vincent's hit list. But seeing that he had little to feel unhappy about now with all he had…

"You're right Verne. This stuff isn't good." RJ shook his head, trying to work off the alcohol that was already in his system. "I'll help you get rid of it tomorrow morning." RJ resolved. He realized that if any of the kids, or especially…

"What's this?" Hammy suddenly appeared and was checking out the beverage for himself. He took a gulp of the stuff and reeled back nearly a foot after ingesting the stuff. "It tastes sooooo weeeeeird…" Hammy's words began to slur.

"Oh no. Looks like he may have taken in more than he should have." RJ moved over to Hammy, stumbling as he went, and tried to keep Hammy from getting another drink of the stuff. "Hammy, stop, you're not supposed to have any, it's not good for us, for any of us, just stop." RJ mustered some energy as more of the alcohol worked its way into his system. Hammy pulled in one more chug of beer before RJ pulled Hammy away. By then, Hammy had lost all inhibition.

"WHEEEEE!" Hammy said as he spun around, the alcohol coursing through his veins. Everything seemed to have slowed down. But, unlike the effect with caffeine, he was the one that slowed down.

"RJ, I think you better bring Hammy back. I'll keep an eye over here to make sure no one gets into any of this stuff" Verne recommended. RJ could only nod in response, knowing that Verne would be able to keep up his word. Him on the other hand, he had doubts about making it all the way to either the log or his place.

"Come on, Hammy." RJ pulled Hammy to him and draped his arm over his shoulder. "Let's go see if we can make it back." RJ lurched forward a bit. "Before we collapse, that is." Hammy was long gone, reduced to giggling nonsensically at anything and everything.

RJ pulled Hammy along through the shrubbery, slowly making their way to RJ's place, it being closer than the log. RJ steadied himself as much as he could, but slowly, he was losing his sense of equilibrium, having to catch himself more often. He began to regret having ever letting his tongue ever touch a drop of beer.

"aRRRRRjAAAAAy." Hammy sung as he pulled himself up to meet RJ eye to eye. RJ felt a little uncomfortable with the lack of distance, but his reaction was not what he expected: he blushed instead of trying to push Hammy away.

"Yeah, Hammy?" RJ blinked, trying to get his fading vision into focus.

"Didyaknow…" Hammy giggled and raised his hand, bringing it up to trace the black stripes around RJ's face. "those stripes on your face…" Hammy smiled. "they make you look so mysterious…" Hammy leaned in closer, until their noses were barely touching. "and so handsome."

RJ blinked. Did he hear just right? Did Hammy just tell him that he was handsome? What was Hammy really saying to him? RJ had to stop his thoughts as he struggled to keep Hammy up.

"Eye alwayz lyke to huug u, aRjAy." Hammy's voice slurred. He pulled RJ down, crushing the raccoon against him in a tight, nearly bone-crushing hug. "Yere fur iz sooo nize." Hammy removed one of his arms and ran his paws over RJ's chest, marveling the smooth, silver-white fur. "End u smeeell sooo…" RJ nearly jumped back when he felt something rough and wet move up from his chest, right up to the nape of his neck. It took RJ only a second before he realized what Hammy was trying to get at, trying to do. He had to act quickly and end it now before it got too far.

"Hammy, let's get you home." RJ stated sternly as he pushed Hammy back with all the strength he could muster. Thankfully, Hammy could not keep his hold around RJ and surrendered his grasp. Hammy immediately pulled back his arms, curling them close to his body, and looked away from him.

"Come on Hammy, get up." He tried to pull up Hammy from the ground until he heard sobbing. "Oh geez." RJ looked down and saw Hammy slowly breaking down in front of him.

"I'msorryi'msorryi'msorry…" Hammy kept his gaze away from RJ, his feeble attempts to push him away ineffective. "Now you're going to be mad at me and not want to hang out with me or maybe even talk or see me." Hammy curled himself up, wrapping his tail around himself, hoping that it would somehow shield him from whatever verbal insults or physical strikes RJ may unleash upon him.

They never came.

Instead, RJ moved to Hammy and picked him up. The raccoon pulled the little squirrel up and held him close, rubbing the back of his head, trying to calm down the little guy.

"Don't be sorry, Hammy." RJ said softly to him. "You can't exactly help who you fall in love with." He gulped before following up, finding it hard to say his next words. "I'm sorry Hammy, but I can't say that I feel the same way about you."

His words seemed to do little to ease Hammy, now reduced to erratic shivers and sobs, the emotional strain finally taking its toll and forcing him into a fitful sleep.

RJ sighed. Chalk up another reason why he hated beer. He looked to Hammy, sweet, innocent Hammy, now reduced to sniveling pile of fur. He had just poured out his whole heart and soul to him. And in Hammy's eyes, he had just pushed him away, cast him aside like some horrid and detestable creature.

RJ had no idea what to do. All he knew was that he had to get himself and Hammy to his place to sleep off the rest of the alcohol.

"Damn." RJ cursed. He pulled up Hammy and carried the squirrel in his arms, back to his place, where they could both sleep a restless sleep. Inasmuch as he would like to forget, he'd have to deal with this. He just didn't know when.

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If you have any advice or suggestions, please feel free to review me. All flames will be ignored.

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	3. Morning Regrets

**Spring Showers**

Chapter Three: Morning Regrets

A bright and shining sun, the sweet songs of birds, a fresh morning breeze, all this greeted the Hedgies as they woke up from a good night's sleep.

"Ugh… it's too bright." Verne shielded his eyes, the early morning rays of the sun blinding him. And the headache that was now ravaging his head did not help things. "This stuff is poison, I'm sure of it." Verne was convinced of what this 'beer' was.

"Verne, are you okay?" Ozzie was the first to see their family leader on the ground, seeming to be in pain for some unknown reason to him. "You don't look so good." Heather soon followed along with the rest of the family.

"I'm sure you wouldn't feel so good after losing your dinner last night." Verne groaned. "Ozzie, get me some water, will you? I'm so thirsty." Verne asked. Ozzie nodded and looked to Heather. Heather, begrudgingly, went off to fetch some water.

"What happened?" Lou wondered how Verne ended up like this.

"This, this, this thing, this beer…" Verne hissed slightly, his head pounding incessantly. "We have to get rid of it. This is one thing I know is not good for us." Verne said.

"What in the world is going on here?" Stella appeared with Tiger alongside her.

"Oh no, that's not what I think it is, is it?" Tiger noticed the familiar aluminum cans that Verne rested against.

"Oh, so you know of this stuff?" Lou said, hoping that Tiger would know exactly what this stuff was.

"I think you remember those commercials where those female human beings go strutting around in skimpy clothing?" Tiger hoped that his description would jar everyone's memories. "And I believe, in the end, they show you a tall, brown bottle, maybe a glass of an amber-colored drink, yes?" Tiger continued. Everyone nodded. "That 'commercial' was trying to sell the same… same poison that you have there now." Tiger's fur rose slightly, bristling up. Stella noted his reaction and understood the severity of emotion that this 'beer' evoked on him.

"Jeepers. How bad is this, this 'beer'?" Penny asked, worried about what this substance was that was among them.

"This same 'beer,' along with other drinks that have this 'alcohol' has been a bane on the human race. A little of the stuff doesn't hurt you, but too much can cause much trouble." Tiger's voice grew more serious, a slight growl now noticeable in his tone. "Humans have hurt themselves and others when they abuse this 'alcohol.' Some humans can't control themselves and they become reliant on this drink. It has broken many lives and forced many to wallow in a pit of self-loathing and despair." Tiger lowered his voice, remembering many humans that he knew that fell to the influence of the bottle. "It has no place among us. It will do us no good. It will only hurt us." Tiger warned sternly.

"Well, let's get rid of this stuff!" Stella, blood rushing from her lover's speech, was motivated to rid this stuff from their family. The rest of the Hedgies nodded and agreed with Verne's and Tiger's warning. The 'beer' had no place with them.

"Stella, can you, Tiger, and Ozzie go get rid of this stuff?" Verne asked. Heather came back, rolling a pint of water with her for Verne. "Just go do something, throw it away, give it back to the humans, anything!" Verne felt like throwing up again.

"Has anyone seen RJ?" Heather asked, looking around for the raccoon.

"Ugh. He should be at his place, most likely with Hammy." Verne reached for the bottle of water Heather had brought. Lou opened it up for him with a simple twist, removing the white cap and placing it aside as Verne downed some of the water.

"They had drunk some of this stuff too, more than I did, and I think they may be in worse shape than I am." Verne added, though he wondered how much worse they could feel compared to how he felt now. "Why don't you check on them, Lou, Heather?" Verne asked.

"Sure thing. We'll see if they're okay." Lou replied. "Honey, can you watch the boys for sec while I check on RJ and Verne?" Lou asked his loving wife.

"No problem, dear. Just make sure that they are all right." Penny affirmed.

"Heather, can you show me where you got that bottle of water? I think we should bring some with us when we find RJ and Hammy." Lou asked.

"Sure, follow me. It's this way." Heather nodded and the two set off. Ozzie, Tiger, and Stella began their work to get rid of the remaining beer, while Penny, along with her three sons, tended to Verne.

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"Mmmph." A groan emanated from the child-booster seat/modified easy chair where a grey and white mammal slowly emerged from his disturbed sleep. A small, metal container petered on the edge of the seat. The mammal squirmed a bit, adjusting himself into a more comfortable position, and finally, after settling on a position, swept his tail and brushed the metal container off the seat and down to the ground.

CLUNK! The metal container fell against the body of another mammal, smacking him out of his sleep.

"Ouch." Hammy said weakly as he slowly awakened into the realm of life. A dull ache pervaded his head, as well as a thousand sound, sights, and smells, threatening to overload his sense. But slowly and surely, he was coming to. And one particular memory came to dominate his thoughts.

"Oh no." Hammy squeaked, remembering what he had done last night. He had come on to RJ and he had been rejected. The little, red squirrel fought hard to keep tears from coming to his eyes. He had hoped that it was all just a bad dream, a nightmare. But, he knew in his heart that what was playing out in his memory, played out exactly the same last night. The same flattery, the same playing with RJ's face, the same tight, arousing hug, the same lick… had RJ not stopped him, he may have done something unforgivable.

But what he had done last night, Hammy considered, was already unforgivable. And he hated himself for it. He hated everything he had done, everything he was feeling, even now! "How could I do such a thing?" He asked himself. How could he do that to RJ, his best friend in the whole wide world?

Hammy looked up and fell deeper into his funk. RJ was sleeping on his seat, his back to him, sleeping the night off as it was nothing. RJ had left him to sleep off the night on the cold, hard ground, alone with no comfort. His last words from last night hurt enough, but now, in Hammy's already muddled and confused mind, he took it as further proof that RJ had rejected him, that he didn't want anything to do with him anymore.

"Why?" Hammy asked himself. He found it harder to fight back the tears that threatened to flood his eyes, to stop from breaking down and bawling like a needy baby. And the last thing he wanted was to wake up RJ and find him in such a pathetic state.

"He probably already hates me anyways." Hammy resigned, shivering.

He had to get away from there. He didn't care where he went to; he just needed to get away from there. He picked himself up slowly, trying to get his bearings, and started to run. Still wobbly from the after-effects of the alcohol, his arm was gashed as he nearly ran into a nearby thorn bush. He disappeared into the forest, with only the small droplets of blood marking his path into dense foliage.

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If you have any advice or suggestions, please feel free to review me. All flames will be ignored.

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	4. Breaking Down

**Spring Showers**

Chapter Four: Breaking Down

"Ugh…" RJ felt sick to his stomach, which was already threatening to rebel against him and force out the remains of last night's dinner and dessert. His body ached and he wanted to just lay there on his seat until his body felt like cooperating.

However, unlike his body, his mind was racing a mile a second. Everything from last night barreled down his mind until it slowed to a mere snail's pace as one memory played itself from last night.

"Oh no." RJ rubbed his temples, trying to convince himself of the reality of the situation. One of his best friends just admitted to him, though in a clouded state of mind, that he was attracted to him. Reflecting on his actions last night, he now believed that Hammy thought that he hated him. It was like it was pulled straight out of a sappy, second-rate drama, and he would have laughed if it really wasn't happening to him.

"RJ?"

"Huh?" RJ blinked a few times, trying to clear his vision.

"RJ, are you feeling okay?" The brown, hazy figure approaching him came into focus and he recognized who it was.

"Oh, hey Lou." RJ shakily straightened himself up, trying his best to greet the porcupine. "Oh, I feel just fine." RJ replied. "I feel like I was just hit by a truck, but aside from that, I feel perfectly fine." He added.

"Oh, geez. Verne did say you drank quite a bit of that stuff." Lou told him, placing his paw over RJ's forehead, seeing if he had a fever.

"I'm okay." RJ sat up, gently pushing Lou back. "I just have to get over this headache."

"Here RJ, drink some water." Heather appeared next to him, holding in her paws a capful of water. She pushed forward suddenly and the capful of water went flying…

SPLASH! Right onto RJ's head.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" RJ screamed, the splash of cold water sending a shock right through his body. It was just what he needed to wake up.

"Oh, sorry RJ!" Heather ran around until she found a piece of cloth to help wipe off the water.

"That's… that's … Heather, you can stop now. I'm dry already." RJ said. He huffed slightly. "Thanks Heather." He turned to Lou. "Have you guys taken care of Hammy?" RJ asked, looking for some sign of the young squirrel. Heather handed RJ another capful of water and began to drink.

"Hammy? We didn't find him here with you. You were by yourself when we got here." Lou answered. RJ suddenly threw aside the capful of water, eyes wide with fear.

"WHAT? He's not here!" RJ pushed himself off of the chair, moving past Lou and Heather, and frantically looked around for some sign of Hammy. "Where is he? Where is he?" RJ looked around his chair for him.

"RJ, calm down, I'm sure he…" Lou tried to relax RJ.

"HAMMY! WHERE ARE YOU?" RJ screamed at the top of his lungs. And just as suddenly as he surged up, his body began to fail on him, suddenly seeing himself falling to the ground.

"Geez RJ, watch yourself!" Lou had caught the raccoon before he landed facedown into the ground.

"Please!" RJ pulled himself up and looked Lou straight into his eyes. "Find Hammy! Please make sure he's okay!" RJ begged, his face crumpled as if he was in agony. Lou was somewhat taken aback at the sight before him. He had never seen RJ like this before and it scared him a little.

"We'll find him, I promise." Lou assured him.

"Thanks, Lou." RJ picked himself up, Lou supporting him just in case he stumbled again.

"Heather." Lou called to the female possum, still standing at the side, still somewhat dumbstruck by what just happened in the past minute. She shook her head and moved to the two. "Take care of RJ. I'll go get the others and start looking for Hammy."

"Okay, can do." Heather nodded as Lou passed RJ to her. Lou quickly dashed off for the others while Heather helped RJ back to his seat.

"Everything will be cool. You'll see." Heather handed another capful of water to RJ, which he slowly sipped down. "Last night must have been really horrible for you, wasn't it?" Heather asked. "That stuff must have done a real number on you." She continued.

"Yeah, it really did." RJ replied simply. "And on Hammy too." He said to himself softly.

Heather continued to dote on RJ, taking care of any need he had. RJ, on the other hand, barely noticed her presence, only replying with one-liners when he could, not wanting to explain much about last night. Though he did appreciate what she was doing, his mind was somewhere else, wondering about Hammy. Not so much worrying about where he was, but what state he was in.

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"HAMMY!" Lou called out into the forest, the echo carrying some distance. He peeked into a couple of bushes and around a couple of trees, hoping to see some sign of Hammy. "Geez, I hope that he's okay." Lou said hopefully.

He had made his way back to the others, meeting with Verne and his wife and kids. A few minutes after he had arrived, Stella, Tiger, and Ozzie had returned from getting rid of the last of the 'beer' and he began to explain what had happened. Once Verne felt well enough to move without assistance, they all made their way to RJ to speak with him.

Their meeting was short. RJ kept any specific details about what had happened between him and Hammy that night from everyone else, just giving them enough info hopefully to help them find Hammy. Penny and the siblings stayed to help RJ while the rest disbanded to search for Hammy.

It didn't take them too long to find the blood trail.

"Verne, do you think Hammy may be in a lot of trouble?" Lou called out to Verne, who was searching nearby.

"I don't know. I really hope that he's not seriously hurt." Verne dared not to think about the worse case scenario. He wouldn't be able to accept it if anything happened to the little guy. His fear drove him to search more intensely, praying to some higher power in the hope that he would find Hammy safe.

But the blood he saw wasn't helping to ease his worries.

"HAMMY! PLEASE ANSWER ME!" Verne shouted once more. He quieted down, concentrating on any sound he may hear that could lead him to Hammy.

SNAP!

"Hammy?" Verne rushed to the source of the sound, hoping that it was him. He stumbled across a few broken branches on a bush and found a bare area of dirt at the base of a tree. He listened in, hoping to hear anything else.

He heard a faint sobbing.

"Hammy?" Verne kneeled down and looked under the tree into a small hole. There, he saw something shivering. "HAMMY, COME OUT HERE!" Verne called to him, extending his hand.

"Go away, leave me alone." Hammy replied softly

"Hammy, get out here! You're hurt!" Verne further pleaded with him.

"No, just leave me here." Hammy squeaked back. "Just leave me here."

"Hammy, look! Whatever the problem is, you can talk to me about it! I'm here for you! I'm not going to leave you!" Verne strained his voice, still trying to reach out to Hammy.

A few tense moments passed.

"Thank you, Hammy." Verne breathed a sigh of relief as he felt Hammy's hand grasp onto his. As he pulled, he was appalled at the sight of dirt and blood that was caked onto the fur of Hammy's arm. He pulled gently and helped the squirrel out of his hiding place, taking care not to cause the little one any more pain. Once in full view, Verne was horrified at the sorry state that Hammy was in.

Aside from the mess on his arm, his fur was bristled and disorganized, pointing every which way, with dirt and blood spotting his red and white fur. Verne looked at Hammy's face and, staring back at him, Hammy's emerald green eyes were marred with red, arteries and veins trailing every which way across his eyes. The fur around his eyes was still wet, a sign that he had been crying for longer than he had thought.

"Hammy, what happened to you?" Verne demanded to know why Hammy looked so disheveled.

"It's… it's…" Hammy sniffled, trying to hold himself back. He was quickly trying to think of an explanation to give to the turtle, but couldn't find anything to say. Hammy looked up to Verne and saw the deep concern, how worried he was for him. Aside from RJ, Verne was the only person that he could ever really talk to about anything. After all, after his parents had died when he was young, Verne somewhat became his surrogate father, raising him up to become who he is today. He trusted him completely, and now, more than ever, he had to trust him with this secret. He would need his help most of all if he was to ever make it through this ordeal.

"IT'S ME!" Hammy broke down once more, collapsing into Verne's arms, weeping once more.

"Hammy, what's wrong?" Verne asked softly enough to not sound angry, but loud enough to carry over the sobbing. "I don't understand what you are saying."

"I… I… I'm in…" Hammy sobbed between words.

"Go ahead." Verne gently patted Hammy's back to help him relax.

"I'M IN LOVE WITH RJ!" Hammy cried out before pressing himself against Verne, his body now shaking from the strain of his confession and the stress it placed on his body. "But he doesn't love me." He squeaked. "He hates me."

Verne could only cradle the young squirrel in his arms, trying to slowly let Hammy's confession sink into his mind. He had not expected such a staggering revelation as that from Hammy. Yet, he couldn't completely understand why Hammy was like this.

"What happened?" Verne asked him, trying to better understand the situation. Hammy didn't, or rather, couldn't respond. His senses had become too jumbled and he petered on the edge of awareness, ready to lapse into unconsciousness at any time. His mind and body were too fatigued to do anything else.

Realizing Hammy was in no shape to explain anything, Verne simply held onto him, continuing to massage his back, helping him to release the tension in his body. As Hammy slowly fell into another uneasy sleep, Verne mulled over the revelation, trying to make sense of it all. Seeing the mental, physical and emotional toll that was taken on Hammy in revealing such a secret worried him. He needed to know more in order to help him make sense of it all, to help him through and make sure he was okay. He needed to help this young squirrel, his adopted son. He loved him as so.

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Before long, the others found Verne with Hammy. They took Hammy back home where, as Hammy slept, his family tended to the wound on his arm. RJ, after recovering from his hangover, came as they were helping to clean the dirt off of Hammy's fur. He looked upon the squirrel with sorrow and regret.

"Hammy…" RJ whispered as he took Hammy's hand into his. "Please be okay." RJ gently squeezed his hand, hoping that he'd be okay when he woke up.

The family stayed close to Hammy as he slept. They had more than enough food to keep them satisfied for a long while, so they didn't have to go on another raid anytime soon. They stayed vigilant at the side of the squirrel, waiting until the time when the little guy would wake up from his sleep.

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If you have any advice or suggestions, please feel free to review me. All flames will be ignored.

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	5. Confessions

**Spring Showers**

Chapter Five: Confessions

Hammy blinked and looked around himself, wondering where he was.

"It's so dark." Hammy thought, no being able to see past a foot or two away from where he stood. Nothing looked familiar to him, scanning for the area for some kind of landmark, hoping to get his bearings and figure out a way home. But he could see nothing but darkness around him.

He started to move, hoping that if he could run into something familiar in his path, he could plot his way back to the others. But, even as he moved, even until he was running at his fastest speed, all he could see was a continuing darkness.

"Where am I?" Hammy fell to the ground, tired from the run. He was getting worried now. He was lost and he had no idea how he would get back home. He tried to think, but he only worried himself more and more.

Once he had regained his breath, he stood up and decided to try heading back the direction he came from, thinking that he may have just moved in the opposite direction from his way home. Hammy once again started to sprint until he noticed a light in the distance. He decided to run to it, hoping that it may point him the way home. He stopped short when he saw what was under the light.

"RJ!" Hammy felt overjoyed finding him. He sat there, facing the opposite direction of Hammy. "RJ, it's me, Hammy!" Hammy ran up to him to give him a hug.

"Huh? HEY! LET GO OF ME!" RJ struggled against Hammy's hug and pushed him off of his back. "Who are you?" RJ demanded to know who this stranger was, calling out his name and giving him hugs for no reason.

"RJ, it's me, Hammy!" Hammy repeated, jumping up to attempt another hug.

"Hey! Get away from me, you weirdo!" RJ pushed him back, this time with more force, enough to send Hammy crashing backwards to the ground.

"RJ, what's wrong? Don't you remember me?" Hammy's breathing started becoming erratic as anxiety started to fill him.

"Leave me alone, you freak!" RJ backed away from him, emitting a slight growl.

"RJ, please! DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE OUT HERE!" Hammy frantically shot towards RJ, trying to hold onto him once more.

"HEY!" This time, RJ didn't say anything. This time, he acted. As Hammy's hold tightened around RJ's body, RJ extended his claws and slashed Hammy's arms. Immediately, Hammy howled in pain. His grip loosened, and RJ broke his hold, taking the squirrel into his own hands, and this time throwing him back a good distance away.

"MAKE ONE STEP TOWARDS ME AND YOU WON'T LIVE TO REGRET IT!" RJ snarled, baring his teeth and claws, threatening Hammy. Hammy scooted back, afraid of how RJ looked upon him.

"But, RJ…" Hammy's voice began to crack, trying to keep himself from crying.

"LEAVE ME ALONE, HAMMY! I DON'T WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH YOU! I HATE YOU!" RJ roared. Hammy sunk to the ground, cowering and shaking, afraid of RJ. Seeing that the squirrel had no intention of making any further advances to get close to him, RJ turned and walked away.

"RJ." Hammy could barely whisper out before he began to cry. He couldn't stop himself from breaking down, remembering the last words RJ had said to him.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Words of disgust.

"I DON'T WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH YOU!" Words of abandonment.

"I HATE YOU!" Words of hatred.

Hammy's vision grew darker and darker. But he didn't care. He did not fight the darkness. He allowed it to slowly surround him, consume him. Soon, there was only the sound of sobbing that echoed from the void. Then nothing.

"NO!"

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"NO!" Hammy woke up screaming, startling everyone around him.

"Hammy, Hammy! You're okay! You're safe! You're home!" Verne rushed to Hammy and took the now shaking squirrel into his arms. "Shhhhh, calm down, Hammy. We're here, we're here." Verne assured him, gently patting his back to calm him down. Everyone else approached Hammy, checking for themselves to see if he was okay.

"Hammy, are you alright?"

"Hammy, what happened to you?"

"Hammy, do you want something?"

"Hammy…"

Hammy's ears perked up and he let go of the hug he had with Verne.

"You really scared me there, Hamsquad." RJ said with an uneasy smile and chuckle as Hammy stared back at him. Hammy jumped to him.

"RJ." Hammy clutched onto RJ, as if for dear life, just wanting to be as near to him as possible. "You don't hate me, do you?" Hammy asked with held breath, anxiously waiting a response, verbal or physical.

"Hammy, why would I hate you?" RJ replied to Hammy, happily returning the hug. "You're my best friend, remember?" RJ chuckled softly.

"Thanks, RJ." Hammy squeezed him tight, never wanting to let him go. "I'm so sorry about last night." Hammy said.

"Hmm? Last night? What do you mean?" RJ asked quizzically.

"Oh." Hammy sighed. Figures. He doesn't remember anything from last night. "It's nothing."

"Hey Hammy." RJ started, feeling Hammy's hug weaken somewhat. "You want me to get you something to eat? You've been out quite a while."

"Um, yeah." Hammy pulled back his arms and nodded to him. He tried his best to smile, but only managed halfway. RJ ruffled the fur on the squirrel's head and smiled. Hammy pulled back the edges of his mouth, forming a slightly larger smile, if only to satisfy RJ. However, as soon as RJ and a few of the others left, he dropped the smile completely. He had no reason to smile.

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"Hey Hammy, feeling better?" Verne asked as Hammy finished up his bag of nacho chips. Everyone else had gone to sleep already, so only the two them were left alone.

"Yeah, Verne. I'm feeling a little better." Hammy replied as he finished the last nacho chip. He turned the bag upside down, catching in his mouth the nacho crumbs and nuggets of extra flavoring left at the bottom of the bag. He licked his lips before crumpling the bag up. Tossing the bag aside, he looked to his arm, now bandaged up. It did sting a little, but it barely restricted his normal body movement.

"Hammy, what happened last night?" Verne asked.

"Oh." Hammy took a sudden interest at the different strings that stuck out of the bandages. And he never noticed how much the nacho cheese powder matched the color of his fur. Or how the nearby bush suddenly looked like a great place to hide and…

"Hammy." He felt a paw on his. Hammy looked to Verne and saw the same look of concern he had seen when he had found him. "You can trust me." Verne said. "If… if you don't want to talk about it right now, I understand." Verne added, not wanting to add to any of the pressure that was already pressing on Hammy's mind.

"Verne…" Hammy frowned somewhat, but upon looking to Verne once more, he sighed. "I don't know what's going on with me." Hammy covered his face with his hands.

"So, talk to me." Verne said. "I won't laugh." He assured him.

"You already know my little secret." Hammy sighed, his voice slightly muffled by his paws.

"Yeah. You like guys." Verne stated, still somewhat unnerved by the fact, but not completely against the idea.

"No, I don't." Hammy pulled back from his hands and looked at Verne. "I love RJ." Hammy clarified sternly. "There's a difference."

"Oh, sorry." Verne apologized before looking away and falling quiet. "Good job, dummy." Verne silently berated himself for his mistake. A few seconds of awkward silence past before Verne figured what to ask Hammy next. "So Hammy…" Verne broke the silence. "When did you start having feelings for RJ?" Verne asked.

"I don't know when I started feeling this way." Hammy replied. "I always liked RJ since he joined the family, but more and more, there were these feelings I had that just kept on growing and growing. I wanted to hang out with him more, wanted to know more about him, wanted to make him happy. I wanted to be there for him when he needed me, talk to him when he needed to talk to someone, and anything else he may need me for." Hammy explained.

"Well, then…" Verne started, but was cut off by Hammy.

"And he always liked hanging out with me. He would listen to me when I needed to talk, work with me to get something that we can use. He would make me feel happy." Hammy said. "I know he knows that he makes me happy. I know he knows I would do anything for him. I know he knows that… no." Hammy stopped.

"No?" Verne wondered why he stopped.

"It's about last night." Hammy continued. "I guess that 'beer' made me forget myself and I…" Hammy paused once more, the memory of last night playing over in his head. "I started to come onto him." Hammy covered his face once more, feeling ashamed of his actions.

"Oh. I see." Verne started to understand what had caused Hammy to break down the way that he did. "Was he angry about it?" Verne asked.

"That's the thing." Hammy felt like sinking down, just as his heart was doing now. "He doesn't remember anything about last night." Hammy admitted.

"Huh? How did you know that?" Verne wondered how Hammy knew that.

"I apologized… well, I tried to apologize to RJ for my actions last night." Hammy told him. "But, it doesn't seem he remembered anything from last night. He wondered what I was apologizing for when I tried to." Hammy turned to Verne. Verne could see how hurt Hammy was when he found out that RJ had no memory of last night.

"But if he doesn't remember anything, isn't that a good thing then?" Verne continued to ask Hammy.

"I guess." Hammy had to admit that it would be a good thing. His secret was safe then. "But I wish he did." Hammy didn't want to keep it. "These thoughts, these feelings I have for him, I want him to know!" Hammy stated sternly. "It's eating me up inside!" Hammy nearly choked on his own words. Verne scooted closer to Hammy, seeing that the squirrel was on the verge of another emotional breakdown. But he had to press on. He had to find out what he can so he can help him recover from this.

"Hammy, I need to ask you something very serious now." Verne looked to Hammy and held his hand firmly. Hammy took a quick breath before nodding to Verne, composing himself as best he could. "Do you ever want to tell RJ that you… you… you feel this way about him?" Verne couldn't say the words he intended, but he managed to get the general question across.

"I…" Hammy opened his mouth to answer, but closed immediately, rethinking his answer. He had never really thought about what he would do if he was to confess his feelings, his love… Hammy gulped… to RJ. If ever. "I don't…"

"Do you want him to know?" Verne put the question more simply.

"…"

"Hammy, do…"

"Yes." Hammy looked to Verne, his eyes stern and focused, serious of his answer. "Yes, Verne. I want him to know. I want him to know how I feel about him. I want him to know that I love him more than anything else." Verne held onto his stoic appearance for a few more seconds before his appearance broke and moved to Verne, pressing his head against Verne's shell, seeking comfort and protection.

"But he doesn't seem to feel the same way about me. I even thought I heard him say that he can't love me. I don't know what I would do if he doesn't feel the same way about me." Hammy started to cry once more. If RJ couldn't love him the way he did, what was the point of telling him? What was the point of falling in love at all?

He knew what would be wrong if he and RJ were together. He knew how others looked upon the kind of relationship he wanted with RJ with derision and disgust. But he was willing to risk it all if only for the chance to have it!

But it looked as if he would never have the chance at all. Not if RJ could not return his feelings for him.

Verne stayed up with Hammy, taking care of him, helping him back to sleep for the night, to help him recover from the ordeal of the past 24 hours. All the while, he thought about everything that had happened up to this point, of all the events that led to having Hammy almost constantly breakdown at a moment's notice, bearing such a secret, such feelings for someone who may not want to reciprocate them at all.

As he set down Hammy to sleep, he made up his mind to do something to help.

He decided to have a talk with RJ.

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If you have any advice or suggestions, please feel free to review me. All flames will be ignored.

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	6. Renewed Faith

**Spring Showers**

Chapter Six: Renewed Faith

Morning came and the day drifted on, nothing really out of the normal, just a few things to be done to get ready for the coming winter, despite the fact that it was only mid-spring. Everyone was kept occupied and life for the Hedgies seemed to have returned to its normal routine. But not for Verne.

Over the course of the day, Verne had been going over in his head what he would say to RJ concerning the issue with Hammy. Though it turned out to be much more difficult than he thought. For one, he'd have to get RJ alone to talk to him, a feat not too difficult to accomplish. This had to be done to ensure Hammy's privacy, sparing him the embarrassment of the entire family knowing his problem. The second task, however, was the problem: the matter of actually bringing up the topic with RJ. This took him a majority of the day to work out.

Even now, as they prepared for another raid to continue with restocking the log for the winter, he was still unsure of the method that he settled on earlier that day. But, in his mind, it was the easiest way to broach the topic to the raccoon. His mind was still half occupied with his plan as RJ started to explain the raid plan for that night.

"Okay everybody, I've been scouting out a few of the houses towards the west side of the hedge and I think I have found the perfect house to hit on our next raid." RJ pointed out their position on the map before them, drawing his finger over to the target: A large, two-story Victorian style home. Inside were the normal, rich suburbanites and their whiny and annoying offspring. And their goal: A stockroom filled to the top with food, enough to last the family through the Apocalypse, if need be.

"The family's name is the Stewarts. They had just moved in a few weeks ago. The son is addicted to potato chips and microwave foods. The daughter is a preppy cheerleader with a fancy for health food and some white stuff called tofu." RJ started to brief the family. "Too bad she just gets rid of it in the bathroom after dinner." RJ groaned, remembering the sight of the girl bent over the toilet, finger in her mouth, lunging forward only to empty out her stomach into the porcelain receptacle.

"Do they have anything else we can bring back with us?" Stella asked, wondering what she and Tiger would have to grab from the house.

"The parents have the normal stock of stuff: miscellaneous snacks and candies, barbecue foods, and other preserved frozen foods." RJ reported. "This is going to be a good haul." RJ rubbed his hands together, smacking his lips, already tasting the food on his lips.

"So what's the security like?" Ozzie spoke up.

"This family is easy." RJ grinned. "No pets, no super deadly security system, just a standard one, nothing we can't handle." RJ assured them. "However, occasionally, one of the humans comes down, especially the boy, for a midnight snack, so we'll have to be careful and get ready. That's your job." RJ pointed to Ozzie and Heather, both of whom nodded.

"Verne, do we have everything set on that side of the hedge for the raid?" RJ confirmed with the turtle the arrangements for tonight.

"Huh, what?" Verne shook his head, not catching RJ's question completely.

"Ugh." RJ shook his head. "Is the wagon and the rest of the stuff all set to go tonight?" RJ asked him.

"Oh, yeah, yeah. It's all ready." Verne nodded.

"Okay, that's great." RJ said. "Once Hammy and I disable the security system, it should be as easy as pie." RJ smiled. "Hmm, I wonder if they have any pie." RJ thought out loud, almost everyone chuckling at the outburst. "Hey Hammy, are you okay for tonight?" RJ looked to the red squirrel.

"Yeah, I'm ready." Hammy just nodded before looking back down to the map in the middle of the family. Verne looked to Hammy with concern, seeing how different he was, not hyperactive and excited, like he would normally be.

"Okay buddy, it's almost go time." RJ said enthusiastically. Hammy played along and tried his best to look excited. And it seemed that everyone, except for Verne of course, bought Hammy's act.

"Mom, Dad, do you think we can help bring back some stuff tonight?" Bucky asked, pleading with puppy dog eyes.

"Sure, we have no problem with that." Penny answered. "You can help us carry out some bottles of juice and some of the fruits and the all-natural foods."

"MOM! Not that organic stuff!" The boys whined. "That stuff tastes like cardboard!"

"We're standing by our decision." Lou spoke up. "We said no soda for a week and we will make sure of that."

"Aw, come on Lou." Heather spoke up for the triplets. "How about if they behave themselves, would you let them have a little soda then?" Heather tried to negotiate.

"We'll think about it." Penny answered, Lou nodding in agreement.

"Don't worry guys, I'll be bringing a little soda back." Heather winked to Quillo, Bucky, and Spike. "Just don't run crazy again like last time."

"We promise!" The triplets swore.

Behind their backs were crossed fingers.

"Ah kids." RJ chuckled, watching the entire thing play out before him. He had to give it to Heather, she really was quite the crafty one, rivaling her father.

"Hey, RJ." A voice called out from behind him.

"Oh, hey Verne, what's up?" RJ asked as he turned around to face him. He was somewhat caught off guard by the look on Verne's face. Granted, the turtle often looked rather serious, but this time there seemed to be more sense of urgency behind it all. "You want to talk about something? The raid tonight?" RJ tried to guess what was on the reptile's mind, though he started to wonder if the nature of the topic was more serious than he thought.

"RJ, can I talk to you alone for sec?" Verne asked, placing his hand on RJ's shoulder.

"Uh, sure." RJ was sure now that whatever Verne had to talk to him about was serious enough, not meant to be heard by the rest of the family. They walked a small distance away from the rest of the family before RJ finally spoke up. "So Verne, what's on your mind?"

"It's about Hammy." Verne stated. RJ tensed up a bit, though Verne failed to notice it.

"Oh, what's wrong with him? Is his arm hurting or something?" RJ feigned worry, trying to steer the conversation away from where he thought it was going.

"No, it's not that." Verne said.

"Maybe we should let him rest tonight. You and I can take care of the security system tonight." RJ suggested.

"RJ, I talked to him about what happened two nights ago." Verne broached the topic, going straight to the heart of the matter.

"What do you mean? What happened two nights ago?" RJ continued to play dumb, though he could feel sweat forming on his brow.

"RJ, did Hammy do anything weird that night?" Verne asked, looking directly at RJ for any sign of weakness.

"Maybe, I don't know. I barely remember anything from that night." RJ answered him straight. Verne stared at him for a few more seconds before he just gave out a sigh.

"Sorry about the interrogation." Verne apologized. RJ breathed a silent sigh of his own. "I'm still trying to figure out why Hammy has been acting the way he has since yesterday."

"Yeah, I'm still worried about him myself." RJ admitted. "Is he okay?"

"I don't know really what's going on with him." Verne replied. "I really wish I did know so I could help him out." Verne admitted to RJ.

"I'm sure he appreciates your help." RJ smiled a little.

"I think he could use all the help he can get, RJ." Verne looked up to him.

"Yeah, maybe. I'll see what I can do, but I doubt I can do that much." RJ replied.

"Thanks, RJ." Verne smiled back to him.

"Well, I should get back to the others and go over a few more details for tonight." RJ started to back away from Verne.

"Sure, good idea." Verne agreed. RJ nodded back before walking away from the turtle. He breathed another sigh of relief as he paced away from the turtle, happy to have escaped any further questions.

Verne, however, felt no relief. The tingling in his tail only prickled more and more with every answer that RJ gave him. He grumbled to himself, wondering what RJ was hiding from him. He decided to try again at a different time, when RJ would be more inclined to tell him the truth. He needed to know, for Hammy's sake.

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"Okay, you ready as usual, Hammy?" RJ said as he fished out his portable fishing rod from his golf bag.

"Yeah, ready to go." Hammy replied monotonously.

"Okay, so then let's do this!" RJ cast out the line, reaching out to the roof, catching upon the gutter.

"Hammy, go on now. The daughter's window is open, so you can sneak into there." RJ pointed it out in the distance. "Do a good job, okay, Hamsquad." RJ placed his hand and smiled on him. "I'm counting on you." Hammy looked up to him and couldn't help but smile, genuinely this time.

"Okay, RJ! I'll do my best!" Hammy jumped up and grabbed onto the fishing wire, scurrying across it until he reached the roof. Hammy gave RJ the "OK" sign, letting him know that he was safely across the wire.

"You can do it, Hammy!" RJ gave the young squirrel a thumbs up. "I know you can do it!"

"I won't let you down." Hammy said softly, somehow his spirit spurred on by RJ's words. He quickly darted off to the open window, intent on doing what he has to do to make the raid go as smoothly as possible.

He slipped into the room with barely a sound. He eyed a vent at the side of the girl's room and knew that the vent would be his key to get to the security system. He quickly scurried down from the window, jumping down onto the carpet and dashing straight for the vent.

"YAWN!" The teenage girl stirred from her sleep. Hammy dashed under the bed and waited, hearing above him the springs stretch and strain to the weight above. Once the springs stopped groaning, Hammy slowly stuck his head out and looked for any signs of the girl.

Seeing and hearing nothing else than soft breathing, Hammy quickly dashed to the vent and opened it carefully. With the grate open, he looked down, seeing only a long very dimly lit shaft.

"I have to do this." Hammy told himself, trying to prepare himself to head down into the darkness. "RJ's counting on me. I have to do my best." He breathed. Without a second thought, he plunged down into the darkness. "I can't let him down."

He had a mission to do. He had to do his best for the family. He had to do his best for RJ.

He slipped down the shaft carefully, trying not to make any noise that any of the humans could hear. Once at the bottom of the shaft, he could see some light coming from open gratings some distance away from him. Peering down one of them, he could see a faint light from a lamp near a couch. He assumed it was a living room, considering the widescreen TV and couches in the room.

"Where is the kitchen?" Hammy asked himself. He made his way to another grate and looked down. "YES!" Hammy pumped his fists, seeing a large rectangular, two-door box, hearing the soft hum of the only appliance he knew could make it: A refrigerator. He found the kitchen.

Hammy pulled with all his might to pry open the grating into the kitchen. It didn't budge. He pulled once more and he heard it groan. He wished he had some tools out of RJ's bag to help him open the grate. Taking a deep breath, Hammy grabbed the grate and pulled with all his might.

POP! The grating flew open. Hammy held the grate still, making sure that it didn't bump into anything else and make any more noise. Carefully placing the grate down, he looked down and figured out his way down to a counter.

"Here I go." Hammy jumped down and landed on the kitchen counter with a little grace.

"Nice!"

"Huh?" Hammy looked around and smiled when he saw RJ at the glass sliding door, showing him a thumbs up. "Oh, RJ." Hammy smiled back, trying to hide the blush forming on his cheeks. He watched as RJ pointed up to a glowing keypad to the side of the glass sliding door.

Hammy nodded back and made his way to the keypad, seeing the glowing buttons. Examining each of the symbols on the security pad, he remembered the key to disarm the simple system.

BEEP! The keypad sounded and the LED lights next to the different sensors turned off. Before hopping down a stool to the floor, Hammy made his way to the glass sliding door lock and flicked it open.

"Great Job, Hammy!" RJ said as he pushed open the door. "Okay everyone, let's go find that storeroom and get everything we want." He instructed the others as they streamed into the kitchen. Hammy hopped down a stool to the floor, meeting with RJ below.

"How did I do?" Hammy asked RJ.

"You did great, Hammy!" RJ praised him. Hammy, happy at RJ's positive remark, immediately hugged RJ. RJ chuckled and hugged him back. "Sometimes, I don't know what I would do without you, Hammy." RJ whispered to him.

Hammy purred, happy at hearing how important he was to RJ. He held onto the hug until RJ broke it and looked to him.

"Come on, Hammy. Let's grab the stuff!" RJ reminded him why they were there in the first place. Hammy nodded and the two of them dashed off to grab all the food they wanted.

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"WAHOO!" RJ, Hammy, and Verne whooped victoriously after such a successful raid. Not only were they bringing back a huge haul to the log, everything went perfectly.

"Here's to the family!" Ozzie offered up a cheer.

"TO THE FAMILY!" Everyone else cheered.

"Great work, Hammy." RJ wrapped his arm around the squirrel and commended him for his work. "I grabbed you something for you." RJ smiled.

"Really?" Hammy's eyes widened, his own smile stretching from ear to ear. He swiftly ran back to the wagon and searched through the packages, looking for the special surprise RJ got for him. RJ just chuckled as he watched the hyperactive squirrel digging through all the food. It was good to see that Hammy was doing so much better.

"Is it this?" Hammy popped up right next to him, holding in his arms a huge bag of super soft chunk cookies.

"Yeah, Hammy. It's all yours." RJ smiled. Hammy placed the bag down carefully before wrapping his arms around RJ.

"Thank you, RJ." Hammy snuggled up to him. "I really like them."

"You're welcome, Hammy." RJ smiled back down on his friend. Verne watched the exchange and felt a little better. It seemed as if everything would work out somehow. There was no animosity between the two and things finally did seem to go back to normal. Though he may have doubts about whether anything will develop from here on out, for now, everything was just fine.

"Hey RJ, get over here and help us, will ya!" Stella yelled at him, while Tiger, Lou, and Ozzie were trying to take down a rather large box full of chips. "You got this variety pack and you're going t help us get it down!"

"Okay, Stella." RJ called back to her. "I'll go take care of that, okay, Hammy." RJ ruffled the fur on Hammy's head.

"Sure RJ. I'll see ya after, okay!" Hammy said happily.

"RJ!" Stella screamed, her voice bordering on the demonic. RJ and Hammy jumped slightly before smiling back at each other.

"I'll see ya later!" Hammy waved to him as RJ made his way to the others to help them unload the wagon. When RJ disappeared from view, Hammy picked up the bag of cookies RJ had given him and held it tightly against him. "A gift from RJ." Hammy smiled, feeling warm and happy inside. He opened the bag and dug out a cookie. "Chocolate chip." Hammy said happily. RJ remembered that it was his favorite kind of cookie. He took a bite of the cookie and chewed it slowly, savoring it.

It was the sweetest tasting cookie he had ever eaten.

Finishing up the cookie, he picked up the bag of the rest and quickly ran off after RJ, wanting to share some of the cookies with him.

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If you have any advice or suggestions, please feel free to review me. All flames will be ignored.

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	7. Just the Way the Cookie Crumbles

**Spring Showers**

Chapter Seven: Just The Way the Cookie Crumbles

"Oh boy, that was a heavy one." RJ wiped some of the sweat off of his brow.

"Good job, Tiger." Stella commended her lover for his hard work. "Thanks for getting the box down from the wagon."

"Ugh." Verne, Ozzie, and RJ groaned and grumbled.

"Why does he get all the credit?" RJ asked cynically.

"Just forget about it. You know how Stella has been doting on Tiger a lot lately." Verne reminded him.

"It's romantic, I'll admit, but it's hell on my back." Ozzie rubbed his back, feeling sore after having taken down all those packages of food.

"Hey RJ!" A voice called to him.

"Huh?" RJ looked over his shoulder. "Oh hey, Heather!" RJ smiled.

"You wanna listen to this CD I got from that house?" Heather showed him the shiny disk she had taken from the house. "I've heard some of the music before and it's really good stuff." Heather added.

"Hmm, Ben Folds, eh." RJ looked at the CD. "Sure, why don't we listen to it?" RJ agreed.

"Cool!" Heather smiled. "Come on, let's get the CD player." Heather said, grabbing RJ's hand and pulling him along to where she kept her CD player. It was only a short distance walk before they got to Heather's little personal space. From a rather intricate but waterproof, wooden box, she produced the CD player and the accompanying headphones.

"Put on the tunes, Heather!" RJ chuckled. Heather popped in the CD and pressed the PLAY button before running back and sitting next to RJ, placing an ear to one of the headphone speakers. The machine came to life, the plastic disc inside starting to spin and whine, the intro riff beginning to play.

♪…Let me tell y'all what it's like

Watching idol on a Friday night… ♫

Heather started to sing to the song, surprising RJ with her voice. RJ had to admit that Heather actually knew how to sing very well, her voice articulating the lyrics nicely.

♪…In a house built safe and sound

On Indian burial ground, Sham On… ♫

"Come on, RJ. Sing along!" Heather encouraged RJ to sing along with her.

"Okay, I'll try!" RJ always liked how lively Heather was.

♪…We drive our cars everyday

To and from work both ways  
So we make just enough to pay

To drive our cars to work each day … ♫

Heather jumped up and RJ followed. She was engrossed into the song, nodding her head to the beat, singing out the lyrics of the song. RJ followed suite, enjoying the song, trying his best to follow it.

♪… We're rocking the suburbs  
Around the block just one more time  
We're rocking the suburbs  
Cause I can't tell which house is mine  
We're rocking the suburbs  
We part the shades and face facts  
They got better looking Fescue  
Right across the cul de sac … ♫

RJ was getting the hang of it, singing out the lyrics that he could catch, wrapping his arms around Heather and dancing to the rhythm of the song. She laughed when he tried to say "Fescue" and "cul de sac," and only laughed more when he joined her in laughing. They just reveled in the silliness of it all, ignoring everything else outside of the headphones.

Including the call of a young, red squirrel.

"Hey RJ!" Hammy called out, trying to find his best friend. He carried with him one of the chocolate chip cookies that RJ had given him. He had finished a few more of the cookies during his search for the raccoon, but he held onto the one last whole, chocolaty sweet cookie, intending to share it with RJ.

He moved around a couple of bushes, trying to see any sign of RJ until something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He moved over to a small break in the bushes to see a sight before him.

"RJ." The words died on his lips, barely escaping as a whisper. He felt his whole body tighten all of a sudden, trembling with confusion at what he saw.

RJ and Heather were laughing up a storm, singing out loud, incoherently at points, dancing and smiling all the way through. They were having the time of their lives.

♪… We're rocking the suburbs  
Feed the dog and mow the lawn  
Watching mommy balance the checks  
While daddy juggles credit cards … ♫

They sang to their hearts content, swinging each other around, their words synching the lyrics to the unknown song.

They were mocking him. That is what he thought. Hammy couldn't help but feel somewhat betrayed seeing them like this together. His hands tightened around the cookie, pieces of the sweet treat starting to fall to the ground.

♪…We're rocking the suburbs  
Everything we need is here  
We're rocking the suburbs  
But it wasn't here last year … ♫

He wanted so bad to… to… Hammy smashed the cookie in his hands, the various sized crumbs scattering at his feet. He ground his hands together, wanting to crush every little bit of the cookie to pieces. He choked back a sob, trying to reign in the rush of emotions, fighting to keep himself from breaking down. He wanted to turn away from the scene playing out on the other side of the bush, but couldn't help himself, wanting to know what will happen. He grasped his head, trying to keep himself stable long enough to watch a little bit longer.

♪… We're rocking the suburbs  
You'll never know when we are gone  
Because the timer lights come on  
And turn the cricket noises on each night  
Yeah, yeah, we're rocking the suburbs  
Yeah, yeah, we're rocking the suburbs … ♫

RJ and Heather gave out the largest burst of laughter, nearly sending Heather falling to the ground. However, RJ grabbed her hand and pulled her back up, right into his arms and into a hug.

And RJ looked so happy. He looked so happy to be singing and dancing with Heather. This was the happiest he had ever seen RJ in a long time.

A sudden rush of wind tossed dust and dead leaves up into the air, the only trace of Hammy's path into the forest. He ran as fast as his muscles could muster, trying to get as far away from the log, from the family, from RJ.

His heart was breaking, shattering into sharp, jagged pieces, cutting him deep inside. He was crumbling, just like his chocolate chip cookie for RJ. The crumbs now lay in the dirt, its sweetness now gone.

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CCCRRRAAACCCKKK!

Lightning streaked across the clouds, lighting up the night sky, overshadowing for a second the bright lights of the suburbs below. The clouds above rumbled ominously, a premonition of the coming downpour, threatening to crash down into the ground below.

Hammy stared out blankly to the horizon, passively watching the sky and the suburb light up. A storm was brewing within himself, also waiting to burst at any given moment. It collected in his heart, overshadowing the warmth, innocence, and lightheartedness that often filled his heart. It was so hard to feel anything, his body numb and unwilling to move. He just wanted to lie there, alone and defeated.

His legs had carried him some distance away from the family. He didn't know nor did he care that he somehow ended up by the hedge. He just wanted to be away from everything else. He looked for the highest tree he could find to climb up it, to somehow put even a little more distance between him and everyone else. He could have crossed the hedge, into the artificial world on the other side. But that was the last thing he wanted to do. He wasn't suicidal.

But leaping off of the high branch had crossed his mind more than once.

"It's no good." Hammy told himself, pushing away such thoughts. He didn't want his family to have to go through something like that. It wasn't worth it. However, he couldn't deny the gnawing pain in his chest, the unbearable heaviness of the broken shards of his heart pressing his body against the branch, as if to seal himself to it forever. And he didn't want to get up either. He just wanted to lie there and wallow in his misery.

He couldn't approach anyone in his family on his own. It took a moment of weakness and tribulation for him to confess his deep, embarrassing secret to his father figure. He expected to be berated for having such feelings, feelings for someone of a different species, and, shockingly, of the same gender! But Verne comforted him. He was there for him when he needed someone the most. Though in his heart he would have wanted RJ to be the one to have come and rescued him, he somehow understood how it was best that Verne did.

"It's too late." In his mind, he admitted defeat. He was jealous, jealous of Heather, that she could have such a relationship with RJ. Jealous that she could make him act so carefree and happy. They shared so many interests together, spent a lot of time together, and so on. A relationship between them could work out. RJ would probably fall for her so much more easily than he would fall for him. "Why would RJ ever fall for me?" He asked himself, hating himself. If he were a mature, beautiful female raccoon, he could stand a chance. But he was not. He was a young, hyperactive male squirrel.

And if RJ and Heather ever got together, he could do something to stop it. But it would do him no good. Nor would he even attempt to do such a thing to them. He cared for them too much to do anything that would hurt them. If they were meant for each other, then who was he to stop it?

"I'm so tired." Hammy blinked. His eyes were once again streaked with red. He somehow managed to hold back his tears while running through the forest. But once upon the tree branch, he cried his heart out, letting out the torrent of sadness and regret that had welled up inside of him. The storm raged on in his heart, the flood of devastating emotions seeming to endlessly surge out.

He found a momentary peace, a calm in the storm, thinking of all the good times he had with RJ, how he taught him so many things and shown him a whole new world. He loved him for showing him the delights to be found in the suburbs, from the chocolate chip cookies to the Spuddies, from the digital cable to the backyard swimming pools. He loved him for guiding him and protecting him from whatever came to harm him or the family.

But most of all, he loved RJ for making him feel special, wanted, needed.

However, the calm soon passed as his mind began to imagine all the good times he could have had if he and RJ… but he would never know. He berated himself, thinking himself to be a fool for believing that he was special to RJ, special enough to warrant the emotions he desired from RJ. He didn't deserve it. And the tears flowed out once more. He was on the verge of crying himself dry once more. But all his energy was gone.

He was tired of crying. He was tired of love. He wanted to give up on it all.

CRASH!

DRIP… DRIP… DRIP

The sky tore with a flash of light and erupted, releasing all the water it had held within itself. In a split-second, the torrent of water came down upon everything. Hammy felt small drops of water pelting him, the water leaking through the dense cover of the foliage above him. He looked upon the rain and resolved to himself.

"I don't want to cry anymore." Hammy decided. "It's not worth it." Tonight would be the last time he will cry. He will cry out to the heavens once more, releasing the anger and anguish within him. He didn't want the emotional baggage anymore. He didn't want any of it anymore.

"No more." He managed to tap into one last store of energy to pick himself up to face the horizon. He felt his eyes tear up as he turned his tired eyes skyward. The sky from then on will cry for him, the rain, his tears. The rain will forever be the tears he will shed because of the heartache of his unrequited love.

"I don't want to be in love anymore." Hammy choked.

CRASH

"NO MORE!" Hammy screamed into the night sky with the thunder crash, crying out once more in agony, the last tears streaking down his face in one final downpour. He gave up on love, but he will still move on. He will continue to live with his family, to get through the seasons, to do what they have always done for as long as he can remember.

"No more… no more… no…. more…" Hammy, with one last sob, collapsed back unto the branch, his body finally giving out, falling out of the realm of the waking and entering the realm of sleep. When he wakes up, tomorrow would just be another day.

He will live on.

Just without love.

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If you have any advice or suggestions, please feel free to review me. All flames will be ignored.

"Rocking the Suburbs" copyrighted to Ben Folds.

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	8. Unraveling the Truth

**Spring Showers**

Chapter Eight: Unraveling the Truth

"Mmph." RJ rolled his head on his chair, bringing himself out of sleep. He blinked lazily, bringing his vision into focus. "Ugh, I hate mornings." RJ groaned as he pulled himself out of his chair and walked to the mini-bar that he used to store his personal stash of food. One side was lined with sodas, juices, and energy drinks, both caffeinated and not. On the other side, a variety of assorted flavored Spuddies that he had collected from the past raids.

"Heaven bless the man who made pepperoni pizza flavored Spuddies." RJ chuckled, pulling out one of the cans of chips. From the other side, he decided on an energy drink to wash down the processed potato food stuff.

"Morning, RJ." Verne appeared, yawning, having woken up after a good night's sleep in the log. RJ chuckled at the eye mask still on Verne's head. Of all the things that had changed when the family had started to raid the suburbs, Verne was probably most happy about the additions they had made to the log, including adding the NASA approved memory foam bedding and, Verne's personal favorite, the mini sun lamp. "How was your sleep?"

"It's okay." RJ rubbed his neck, working out the kinks in his neck. He should get more of that memory foam pillowy stuff for himself, he thought. He moved back to the mini-bar and pulled out another energy drink, tossing it over to Verne.

"Thanks." Verne replied kindly, twisting the cap off and drinking up a bit of the artificially flavored salty sweet concoction. "Have you seen Hammy this morning?"

"Huh? Wasn't he sleeping with you in the log?" RJ was surprised to hear that Hammy wasn't with the rest of the family.

"No. I didn't notice him come into the log last night and this morning, I found no trace of him." Verne said with a growing sense of urgency.

"I haven't seen him since last night as well." RJ started to take deeper breaths.

"Oh geez." Verne groaned. "We better find him." Verne put aside the bottle of electrolyte solution and started to march back to the log until RJ stopped him with a hand to his shoulder.

"Come on Verne. Hammy's grown up. I'm sure he is okay." RJ tried to reassure the reptile. "Maybe he just woke up really early and went for a quick walk." RJ tried to reason, though his own tone of voice betrayed him. "You know how energetic he is."

"RJ, I know he has grown up." Verne bit back. "It's just that he hasn't been himself for the past few days. He seems to be out of it quite a bit." Verne held back any details, not wanting to share anything with RJ and hoping, in the back of his mind, RJ would trip and say something incriminating.

"Okay, okay, okay." RJ shook his head before letting out a sigh. "We'll go look for him." RJ sighed. "I bet you he's just fine." He grabbed his golf bag full of tools, slinging it over his shoulder, and turned around, beginning to walk towards the hedge.

"I don't know, I'm just worried." Verne followed him, increasing his pace to catch up and then match RJ's gait.

"You always worry about everything." RJ pointed out rather cynically. "Why can't you just stop worrying and trust our family?" RJ added.

"It's because they are my family that I worry about them." Verne snapped back.

"Oh come on Verne!" RJ said exasperatingly. "Everyone can take care of themselves!" RJ threw up his hands and stated. "We've gone though everything that has come our way and we all survived just fine!"

"I know that they can take care of themselves!" Verne growled back as best he could. "But we help each other when we can! I worry so that we'd be ready for anything that may come our way. We can't become overconfident because we've only known the world on the other side of the hedge for only a year!"

"I understand that!" RJ retorted.

"RJ, a lot of things have changed over the year, if you haven't noticed. We've all changed" Verne started up. "Hammy especially." RJ stiffened somewhat but continue to walk as best he could as if that little fact had not really bothered him.

"Verne, he's mature enough to…"

"Stop, RJ. I know that he has matured a lot." Verne stated firmly. "I've watched him grow up since he was little. I took care of him and guided him as best I could. I know how much he has matured."

"So then you should…"

"But he's still young. He's still naïve to so many things. Especially after learning about the suburbs, he still has so much to learn." Verne stated. "He's looked up to you because you know much more about the humans than anyone else in the family. You're barely a year older than him, but you know so much more because you have been exposed to all of it before."

"Verne, I'm still learning, just like he is." RJ stated. "Yeah, I know more because I've had to take care of myself for so long, but there are things I still have to learn." RJ sighed. Slowly though, a smile crept onto his lips. "I kinda envy Hammy."

"Huh, why?" Verne asked, wondering about the statement.

"Because he's had someone like you to take care of him." RJ replied. "I'm still learning about being a part a family, a family who loves me so much and a family who I love just as much."

"RJ, it took a lot for me to be convinced to let you be a part of out family." Verne stated. "A lot." Verne repeated, RJ frowning at the repetition. Verne just smirked back. "I've grown to trust you despite everything that's happened." Verne looked away for a second.

"Thanks, Verne." RJ smiled, happy at the reptile's opinion of him.

"RJ." Verne looked back to RJ, staring straight at him. "Though I do trust you, I still have doubts about a lot of the things you say sometimes."

"Like what?" RJ replied, somewhat disturbed at Verne's admission. He noticed the turtle take a deep breath before letting out a sigh, as sign to RJ that he was going to bring up something very serious.

"RJ, do you promise to tell me the truth? Can I trust that you will tell me everything?" Verne asked.

"Verne, what is it?" RJ looked to Verne, his brow creasing, now worried about what old memory Verne wanted to bring up. Verne stopped right in front of him, his eyes still locked onto RJ's.

"RJ, please tell me what happened the night me, you, and Hammy drank that 'beer'." Verne demanded. "Please, if not for my sake, please tell me for Hammy's. I know something happened and it's affecting how Hammy has been acting since then."

"Verne." RJ started.

"Please trust me enough to tell me the truth."

RJ placed his hand over his face, breaking his gaze, covering his face to shield any sign of emotion he may unwittingly display. RJ took a few breaths, his fingers massaging the bridge between his eyes, trying to work up the nerve to respond to Verne. Opening one eye, he could still see Verne looking to him, his gaze stern and unmoving. But he could see in his eyes that Verne was pleading with him, begging to get some answers so he could help Hammy.

He always was unselfish like that.

"Can we sit down, Verne? Please?" RJ asked.

"Sure." Verne nodded, breaking eye-contact, which eased RJ's feelings bit. They sat under a tall tree, a few feet from the hedge. RJ made himself comfortable on the soft grass, placing his bag behind him, and waited until Verne seated himself next to him.

"Verne…" RJ started, pulling his hand away from his face and looked to Verne. "That night we drank that 'beer', I had decided, as best as I could, to bring Hammy with me to my pad so we can both sleep off the stuff." RJ said.

"What happened on the way there?" Verne asked, somewhat feeling a little better now that RJ was opening up and getting the answers he needed.

"I guess he really had no inhibitions at that point and he started to…" RJ stopped, trying to think of the best way to say what he wanted to say. "…express his feelings to me."

"Express his feelings in what way?" Verne continued to press for answers.

"He was fawning all over me, caressing my face and running his hands through my fur." RJ felt weird speaking about the incident, the feeling of Hammy's hands running through his fur bringing up mixed feelings in him.

"Oh, I see." Verne somewhat understood the reason why RJ did not want to mention anything about that night, embarrassing as it was.

"Verne." RJ took one more breath. "I think he likes me." RJ said. "I think he likes me more than just a friend though." RJ elaborated. "I think he likes me likes me."

"You mean?"

"I think he loves me." RJ said. Somehow, he felt as if his entire body was heavier than before for some reason.

"What happened after he 'expressed his feelings' for you?" Verne waited anxiously to know.

"I pushed him away because he was getting a little more… touchy." RJ replied. He felt heavier again, as if something was weighing him down. "And he started to cry."

"WHAT?" Verne raised his voice, reacting to the actions that RJ had done that night.

"I tried to console him!" RJ said in his defense. "But I had to tell him I didn't feel the same way about him. It wouldn't be right if I lied to him. He deserved…"

POWW!

RJ found himself on the ground, fallen back against his golf bag, his cheek tingling and swelling up. He moved his tongue inside of his mouth, tasting a bit of blood. He looked up from his position and saw Verne standing above him, breathing heavy, his hand balled up into a fist.

"You… you… stupid… you… selfish… YOU IDIOT!" Verne snarled at him. "How could you just slam him down like that and then lie to him?"

"What?" RJ didn't understand what Verne was saying, still dazed from the punch.

"He told me that you didn't remember anything from that night!" Verne screamed at him, his breathing becoming even more erratic. "Why didn't you tell him the truth?"

"Because I didn't want to hurt him!" RJ yelled back. "Because I thought that if I said that I don't remember anything, he'll think that his secret is still safe and he wouldn't feel bad anymore!"

"He told me about his feelings for you! He really wants you to know how he feels about you! You said it yourself! HE LOVES YOU!" Verne jumped onto RJ, sending the raccoon down on his back once more, his fist raised high to punch him again.

"I'm sorry!" RJ said before raising his hand, ready to defend himself from any hits coming his way. Instead, he felt Verne's weight move off of him. RJ slowly picked himself up and saw the back of Verne's shell facing him.

"When we find Hammy, tell him that you don't feel that way about him. Tell him that you can't love him the way he wants you to. Tell him what you really feel about all of this." Verne commanded RJ.

RJ opened his mouth to respond, but Verne stopped him when he continued.

"But tell him that you are still his best friend. Tell him that you will always care for him. Tell him what you really feel about him. Let him down easy." Verne looked back to RJ, his face looking calmer than a few seconds ago. "Please."

"Yeah." RJ nodded. "Yeah, I will." RJ agreed. He rubbed his cheek, still tingling from the punch Verne had landed earlier.

"Come on, let's find Hammy now." Verne turned back around and began to walk again, resuming the search. RJ stood up and silently followed the turtle.

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"Any sign of him?" Verne asked, looking behind a tree, hoping that he might find Hammy in a place similar to where he had found him last time.

"No, I don't see him anywhere." RJ sighed, pulling the binoculars off of his eyes and blinking, restoring his focus. "Where could he have gone?" He wondered. He looked up and saw the sun hanging high in the sky. They had been searching for hours and yet they found no hide or hair of the squirrel.

"I don't know, but we have to find him." Verne pushed aside the branches of another bush before turning around to RJ. "I have a very bad feeling about this."

"We'll find him, I'm sure of it." RJ pressed the binoculars onto his eyes and continued to scan the area, high and low, for any sign of their friend. "We have to." RJ said to himself silently and prayed that Verne was wrong.

"Maybe he might be back at the log." Verne thought. "We should…"

"VERNE!" RJ yelled out. He put down his binoculars and pulled Verne. "Hammy's there!" RJ pointed towards a tree in the distance. "I can see the bandage on his arm!"

"What is he doing up there?" Verne squinted, trying to see Hammy where RJ had pointed to.

"Come on Verne, let's go." RJ threw his binoculars into his bag and started to sprint to the tree. Verne followed as best he could.

They came to stop at the base of a rather large oak tree. Looking up, they could see the white bandage that was still wrapped around a now more noticeable orange furred arm.

"HAMMY!" RJ yelled, hoping to catch the attention of his friend.

"HAMMY, ARE YOU OKAY?" Verne yelled out as well. They waited for an answer, looking to see any movement, but heard and saw nothing. "HAMMY, ARE YOU HURT?" Verne added, growing more worried with each passing moment.

"I'm going up there." RJ said, tossing his bag off of his back.

"Be careful RJ." Verne said. "Check to see if he is okay."

"I will." RJ nodded to Verne before running towards the trunk of the tree. Looking up, he was a bit intimidated by the height of the plant, but he dug his claws into the bark and started to scale the behemoth oak.

Verne watched as RJ made his way up the tree slowly, grasping RJ's bag, hoping that he didn't fall. He let out a sigh of relief when RJ made it to the large branch where Hammy was.

"Hammy!" RJ gasped.

Hammy lay stretched out over the length of the branch, his arms, legs, and tail hanging off to the side. Just looking at Hammy's matted fur he could tell that he had been exposed to the thunderstorm that had passed through last night. He slowly made his way up to Hammy, taking great care not to throw off his balance and fall. Upon coming to him, he reached out to Hammy, touching his fur and feeling the moisture on his fingers, confirming his suspicions. He gently reached out his arms once more and took Hammy into his arms.

"You're cold." RJ noted as he held Hammy's limp body, looking to his face. He put his head to Hammy's chest, feeling a little relief that he could still hear Hammy's heartbeat. But he could barely hear it, beating slow and weak. "What happened to you?" He asked Hammy as if expecting an answer. A frown seemed set into the face of the squirrel, making RJ cringe. A pang of guilt struck his heart, feeling responsible for causing Hammy to be like this.

"RJ, is Hammy okay?" Verne yelled up to him.

"I don't know." RJ yelled back. "His body is cold and he doesn't look so good." RJ replied. He looked back to Hammy and shook him a bit, trying to see if he could get him conscious. However, Hammy just remained limp in his arms. "We've got to get you back home."

"What are you going to do?" Verne called to RJ.

"I'm coming down with Hammy! We have to get him back to the log!" RJ screamed back, a sense of worry apparent in his tone. He looked to Hammy again and looked to the tree, trying to figure how to bring the squirrel down. He could only figure one way to bring him down.

Verne watched nervously as RJ moved Hammy over his shoulder and started make his way down the tree. RJ moved real slowly, moving one paw at a time. He struggled to keep switching arms with every step down, one to hold Hammy secure to him, the other gripping the bark of the tree to ensure that they didn't go tumbling down. He strained to keep on moving, his muscles becoming sore trying to get down. But he kept on moving. With his head right under Hammy's arm, he could hear the beating of Hammy's heart, as weak as it was. Somehow, it motivated him, forcing him to ignore the pain in his arms and keep on moving.

"Hammy!" Verne ran to RJ as soon as he touched the ground, coming to inspect Hammy for himself. "He's icy cold!" Verne declared as his hand came to Hammy's forehead.

"Get a towel from my bag!" RJ commanded Verne. "We have to dry Hammy's fur out. He must have been out when that thunderstorm came through last night."

"Yeah, okay." Verne ran back and grabbed RJ's golf bag. Setting it down in front of RJ, they began to search through the pockets for some kind of towel. Finding two small towels, they quickly began to wipe off the water on Hammy's fur.

"We have to get him back home!" RJ said, panting.

"Okay, I'll get the bag, you carry him." Verne agreed and picked up the bag as RJ scooped Hammy into his arms. They sprinted back to the log as fast as they could.

"Please hold on, Hammy."

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If you have any advice or suggestions, please feel free to review me. All flames will be ignored.

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	9. Asleep and Awake

**Spring Showers**

Chapter Nine: Asleep and Awake

"He's going to be okay." Penny told the others. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, especially RJ and Verne. "He's just sleeping right now.

"It looks like the little guy has the chills." Stella added, coming out of the log with Penny. "Let's just hope he doesn't catch a cold."

"I don't think he will, but just in case, when he wakes up, we should feed him some warm chicken noodle soup." Penny recommended.

"Good idea, honey." Lou agreed, remembering how effective the stuff was when the triplets came down with a cold a while ago.

"We should just let him rest in the meantime." Stella added. "Tiger and I will look for the chicken soup and start heating it up just in case he wakes up soon."

"Thanks Stella." Verne expressed his gratitude for her help.

"What's been up with Hammy?" Ozzie asked Verne and RJ. "He's been acting odd for the past few days. Is something bothering him?"

"It's…" RJ started to explain, but Verne placed his arm in his shoulder.

"It's nothing. He's just been having a really bad week, that's all." Verne took over the conversation. "I'll go talk to him when he wakes up and feels up to it." Verne assured all of them.

"Well, if there is anything we can do to help, just tell us." Ozzie reminded him.

"I'm sure I can handle it." Verne replied.

"Okay then." Ozzie said as he and the rest of the hedgies left the two of them.

"I'm going to keep an eye on Hammy." Verne told him. "What are you going to do?" Verne asked with a serious tone.

"I… I just need to think about some things." RJ answered.

"Go easy on him okay." Verne added, understanding what RJ had to think about, giving him the space that he needed.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah." RJ nodded before walking off, away from Verne. Once a good distance away from anyone, he let out a long, deep sigh. "Damn." He cursed.

He never liked to verbalize his frustrations with vulgar words, but just this once, he thought, the current situation allowed him to be a little crude. The situation itself was out of the ordinary, to say the least. "Damned if you do, damned if you don't." RJ continued to curse under his breath, going over the situation at hand in his head.

He and Verne had run as fast as they could back to the log to help treat Hammy. His heart nearly stopped when Hammy began to shake in his arms, fearing the worse. He picked up speed, running even faster than he could imagine, nearly leaving Verne in his dust. He couldn't imagine what would it be like if Hammy… no, he had to stop thinking about that possibility. Hammy had to get well. He'd do anything to make sure he was okay. He had to get him help.

Even when arriving back at home, when the others saw Hammy and took over taking care of him, he couldn't stop his own body from shaking. For those few hours, he couldn't stand still and mentally, he berated himself for Hammy's condition. More than once, he was ready to break out crying but he maintained his stoic appearance. His mind was in turmoil, thinking of what could happen, from the best case to the worse case scenario, dreading the worse. He found no peace until finally Penny and Stella had told him of Hammy's condition, learning that his best friend was not in danger anymore.

He walked around the general area that the family members had reserved for themselves for a bit of their personal time. In truth, they were just clearings that the family members had picked out due to some random preference or another. However, in each clearing, everyone kept their own little possessions, things from long ago or from more recent time, running the gamut from small trinkets to high-tech entertainment systems. Of course, each little thing had special meaning or purpose.

Ozzie had a small wooden heart that reminded him of his late wife, a gift that he had given to her after she had accepted his proposal to be his mate, along with other mementos, mementos that he would share the story behind each of them to Heather. Bucky, Quillo, and Spike had in their little area a huge stereo system which they would often turn on and dance to the latest pop singles from different artists or another. Nearby, Lou and Penny kept a small digital camera, along with the many photos that they had taken of the family, printed from the laser printer that Stella had, editing with the laptop computer she also possessed, something she personally used to check up on the latest news (and the occasional fashion tip or two) or help the others do some info gathering from the various sites or forums for some reason or another.

She kept the parental filter on just in case any of them might want to search out some of the racier stuff, which horrified her the first and last time she stumbled upon it.

RJ curled his lips into a smile. Every object that any one of the Hedgies possessed bound the family closer together. Every item had some personal significance to the bearer, but it also allowed the family to be a part of it. Family was everything to them. Family was everything to him.

"EW!" RJ groaned, disgusted at stepping into some weird, brown substance. He wiped his foot over the grass trying to take off as much of the stuff from his toes. There seemed to be something odd about the brown, mushy stuff. It didn't smell like what he thought it may have been. And did he see. "Chocolate chunks?"

He didn't dare to try to determine whether or not the stuff really was chocolate or not, just following his instinct that it was. He came to realize that he had stepped in the remains of a crumbled, old chocolate chip cookie.

"What the?" RJ could only think of one family member who he could tie to with the cookie. "Hammy? What was he doing here?" RJ was puzzled. Why would there be the remains of a cookie when he knew that Hammy basically stuffed each and every piece into his mouth? He looked around the area and came upon a small opening in the bush next to the cookie remains. He peered through the hole to find that he was gazing right into Heather's area. "Why would there be…" Then he realized. "DAMN!" RJ screamed out.

No wonder why Hammy was in bad shape today. He must have seen him and Heather dancing around last night! And, figuring Hammy's feelings, he could only conclude one thing: Hammy was jealous.

RJ growled to himself, furious of the feelings that were now coursing through him. Why did Hammy go out and beat himself up for this? Why did Hammy have to go and drink that alcohol and start all of this?

Why, most of all, did Hammy have to have feelings for him?

Then it hit him. He thought about all the things that Hammy had kept, his personal mementos that meant the world to him. The nacho chip bag that he had when he first met the Hedgies. The canisters of various nuts that they had collected over the course of the past year. The stickers of the various chocolate candy treats he had given to Hammy after he found them in a cereal box. The picture of the two of them munching on a chocolate chip cookie slice from a cookie cake they had taken from a birthday party.

RJ unclenched his fists and lowered his head. He should have seen it coming.

Hammy, young and impressionable as he was, had fallen in love with him. Not that he deserved such feelings from the squirrel; he just didn't know what to make of the whole thing. He couldn't blame Hammy for the feelings he had for him, realizing that the young squirrel could barely understand them himself. But the damage was done. He'd have to have a long, much-needed talk with Hammy. And he expected a lot of crying and harsh words. But Hammy deserved to know, even if it would hurt him. It would be the first step of many Hammy would have to take to recover and pick up the pieces.

RJ understood, having been down that road before.

With a deep, shaky sigh, he picked himself up and started to walk back to his pad. It was almost nighttime and his head ached and he didn't want to think anymore tonight. He'd plop himself down in front of the television, allowing the tube to lull him to sleep. Tomorrow, he'll hash out the dialogue of the talk that he would have with Hammy when he got better.

He hoped that it would be easy enough to 'breakup' with Hammy. There was nothing really to "break up" except some meaningless, obsessive crush. But he knew the truth. It wasn't going to be easy.

After all, breaking up was never easy.

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Hammy shifted his weight, feeling a cool breeze hitting him from behind. He curled his tail a bit to shield his body and keep himself warm.

"Hey there, Hamsquad."

Hammy opened his eyes and smiled, gazing lovingly at the face above him.

"Hey RJ." Hammy giggled, feeling his arms around him. RJ leaned down and gave him a kiss on his head. Just as he pulled back, Hammy extended his hand out and pulled RJ back down gently, this time planting a somewhat awkward, but passionate kiss on his lips. RJ moaned softly with the kiss.

"How was your sleep?" RJ asked, pulling back slightly with a smile on his face.

"It was good." Hammy yawned, RJ chuckled at the sight of him yawning.

"You're so cute, you know that?" RJ told him.

"You too, RJ." Hammy giggled once more. "You too."

"Thanks." RJ replied, smiling down on him.

"It's so good to wake up and see you." Hammy said. "How long were you up?"

"Not long." RJ stroked Hammy's fur gently. "Just stayed here to watch you wake up." Hammy cooed softly. He shifted his position in RJ's arms until he lay face to face with RJ. "Thought I shouldn't wake you up, especially considering how tired you were after last night."

"It's okay." Hammy smiled and took a deep breath of RJ's scent. "I don't care when or where I wake up so long as I wake up next to you."

"I love ya, Hammy." RJ hugged him tight. "So much." He added.

"Love you too, RJ." Hammy looked up to RJ. He leaned up, closing his eyes, to give his mate another loving kiss.

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"Mmmph." Hammy shifted himself, trying to make himself comfortable on the soft surface. He moved directly under a stream of light, forcing him to abruptly change position once more and open his eyes. "Hmm." Picking himself up, Hammy moved his hand over his other arm and pinched himself. "Ouch." Hammy reacted.

He plopped back down to the soft surface he had been lying on, which he quickly discovered was neither grass nor raccoon fur. He pushed down on the stuff and realized he had been laying on the weird, memory foam stuff that the family had inside of the log. A quick look at his surroundings confirmed it for him.

"Hmmph." Hammy sighed. "Only another dream." He had already resolved that it would be foolish to chase after the dream, to make it a reality. However, it still didn't keep him from dreaming.

Truth be told, it was his dreams that got him to start having a crush on RJ. In one form or another, his dreams would consist of passionate kissing, heartfelt, comforting hugs, romantic whispers and small talk, and gently tumbling around each other on soft grass. Thinking about his dreams, he never really did understand anything about it. Maybe there was something more to the dreams that he couldn't grasp. He used to take them at face value, just swimming in the warm, tingly feelings he would get after waking up from them. He developed the habit of pinching himself to remind himself what was real or not, realizing he never felt pain in those dreams. Nightmares, yes, but never his dreams. Then, a few days ago, he just regretted having them when he woke up after them. They were a painful reminder of things he would never have.

But now, he just looked at the dreams as if they were just any other dream. They were only meant to be dreamt and nothing more. They were his last bastion of his feelings that he kept away, locked in some corner of his mind and heart. It was to be a dream unfulfilled. He sighed.

"Morning Hammy!" A cheery voice greeted him.

"Oh. Hi, Heather." Hammy replied simply, looking up to see her enter the log.

"How was your sleep?" She asked.

"It was good." Hammy replied simply once more.

"You really had us worried last night." Heather said, sitting at the edge of the small bed Hammy lay on. "You were shaking a lot and we hoped that you would be okay by this morning."

"Oh." Hammy replied. "Sorry for making everyone worry about me."

"Hey Hammy, you hungry little guy?" Ozzie came into the log.

"Yeah, but I'll get some food for myself." Hammy said simply. He picked himself up slowly, steadying himself on the side of the log, and calmly walked outside.

"Was it something I said?" Ozzie asked his daughter, wondering why Hammy acted the way he did as he walked out on them.

"Hey Hammy, you're alright!" Quillo, Bucky, and Spike greeted him outside of the log.

"Hey guys." Hammy looked to the three.

"Do want us to get you something to eat?" They asked.

"No, it's okay. I can go get some for myself." Hammy repeated his words. As soon as he finished talking, he walked off from the others a bit before starting to run at a brisk speed. The triplets wondered what was with Hammy. He didn't seem to be acting like he normally would.

He ran until he came to one of the spots in the small forest that he was very familiar with. A lot of trees and bushes, the soil soft and easy to dig through, it was the first place he would go to for him to hide the nuts he collected over the course of the year. He decided than rather eating the usual food stuff at the log, he wanted to eat some good, old-fashioned nuts.

He moved to one of his favorite spots to bury nuts and dug down. No matter what other random spots he would bury his other nuts, he never failed to bury some in this particular spot. A few inches under the dirt, he found his stash. He pulled out a nut and easily cracked it open with his teeth. Running his tongue over his teeth, he noticed that they were a bit longer than usual. He would have to make it a point to eat some hard food over the coming days to wear them down. He sat down and started to nibble on the pieces of nut, satisfying his appetite.

He busied himself for a while, eating up the stash of nuts that he had, thinking about nothing. Looking to see he only had a few more nuts left to eat, he caught himself realizing that some considerable time had passed and he…

He felt normal. He felt fine.

Nothing seemed to weigh him down. He thought about the others and felt no noticeable elicitation of emotion for any of them. Thinking of RJ, he just thought of him as another family member, a nice guy, and a fun person to hang around with.

He blinked.

"What in the world happened to me?

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If you have any advice or suggestions, please feel free to review me. All flames will be ignored.

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	10. Resolutions

**Spring Showers**

Chapter Ten: Resolutions

"Hey Verne." Hammy dashed up to him.

"Hammy! You're up!" Verne said, giving him a hug. Verne looked to Hammy and frowned somewhat. Hammy didn't look like his normal self. "Hammy, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I guess." Hammy replied, a little unsure himself of how he was feeling. Verne didn't see the usual grin that Hammy almost always had, nor did he display any of the liveliness he was accustomed to seeing in Hammy. Granted the past few days were hell for the young squirrel, but he didn't even look as if he was troubled at all.

"Is there anything you wanted me to talk to you about?" Verne asked.

"Kinda." Hammy simply replied. They sat down and Verne waited for Hammy to tell him something. Hammy just looked at Verne, not with a totally blank look, but not as if he was totally there either.

"So, Hammy, what did you want to talk about?" Verne broke the silence. Hammy didn't even finch before he spoke up, as if what he was doing just came naturally to him.

"I just wanted to know what happened when you found me." Hammy asked.

"Yesterday?" Verne asked for clarification.

"Yeah, I guess." Hammy replied. To Verne, Hammy acted as if nothing serious had happened to him.

"We found you on a tree branch and you were soaking wet." Verne started to explain. "RJ had to go up and get you down." Verne waited for a second to see if mentioning RJ would elicit some response out of Hammy. But he didn't react at all.

"When we got to you, we found that your entire body was cold. We checked your pulse and your heart was still beating, though a little weakly. Then RJ took you in his arms and we ran back to the log as fast as we could." Verne observed Hammy, still waiting for a reaction of any sort.

"Oh, I see." Hammy replied, turning his head slightly to the side, looking as if he was trying to imagine what Verne had told him what happened. "Hmm." Hammy considered it a bit longer.

"You really did scare RJ when you started to shake in his arms." Verne added, hoping that little detail would jar some reaction, any reaction out of Hammy.

"Oh." Hammy just looked back at him, recognizing what he had heard Verne said. "I got to thank RJ for getting me home then." Hammy stated.

"Hammy, are you sure you okay?" Verne put his hand on Hammy's shoulder. "You don't seem to be acting like yourself."

"I don't know." Hammy replied. He rolled his tongue around his mouth, trying to think up of something to say. But it was somewhat difficult to think about what to say when he couldn't really think about anything. "I can't think."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Verne asked, confused at his words.

"That's just it. I really can't think of what to say. I don't feel anything, one way or another. I just feel normal." Hammy explained as best he could.

"Oh." Verne replied. That was definitely the most abnormal response he had ever heard in his life. Verne was starting to get a better picture of what had happened to Hammy. "Hmm."

"Hey Verne!" RJ walked up to the turtle, and then saw Hammy. "HAMMY! YOU'RE OKAY!" RJ came up to him and gave him a hug. Hammy hesitated but he eventually put his arms around RJ. "How are you doing?" RJ asked.

"Uh, fine, I guess." Hammy looked up to him.

"Oh, that's good." RJ replied somewhat uneasily. He noticed something different about Hammy, something off about Hammy's character.

"Oh, um, thanks for getting me home yesterday." Hammy acknowledged the kind deed RJ had done for him. "Sorry for making you worry when I started to shake."

"Don't worry about it, Hammy." RJ came up and gave him another hug. Hammy once again just raised his hands around RJ and hugged back loosely. "Hey, do you know what will make you feel real good? I got some chocolate milk in my fridge if you want some. Go on and help yourself." RJ smiled to him.

"Okay." Hammy nodded to him. "Thanks." He expressed his gratitude for the offer and walked off to get some of the chocolate milk to drink. Once out of earshot, RJ moved up to Verne.

"What the hell is going on with him?" RJ asked Verne.

"I think he's gone numb." Verne answered, figuring that it was the most sensible explanation for what happened to Hammy this time. "The poor guy doesn't feel anything."

"How in the world is that possible?" RJ demanded to know.

"Hey, calm down. I'm worried about what's wrong with him too, you know!" Verne yelled to him.

"I'm sorry." RJ apologized for his outburst. "It's just seeing Hammy like this… how can he keep on putting himself through this?" RJ asked, hoping some answer would just drop out of nowhere.

"It's either he doesn't want to feel anything…" Verne tried to explain. "Or he can't feel anything." Verne reasoned. "Something big must have happened to force Hammy into this kind of condition."

"Oh god, no." RJ groaned. "It's all my fault." RJ admitted.

"What?" Verne asked, wondering what RJ was talking about.

"Two nights ago, I was dancing around with Heather, listening to some music with her, just having a good time and all." RJ explained. "Then last night, around Heather's place, I found the remains of a crumbled chocolate chip cookie by a small opening in a bush, which had a perfect view of where Heather and I were dancing the night before." RJ buried his hands into his face.

"Oh, no!" Verne figured what must have happened.

"Hammy must have seen us and felt jealous and ran off." RJ couldn't take it anymore. His emotional barriers were slipping, a small tear tracing down his face. "Why did he have to see us?" RJ asked, expecting no answer.

"I think that we should just end this right here and now." Verne said with a deep sigh. "When Hammy gets back, we'll talk and hopefully, we'll get over it and move on." Verne added. "Hammy doesn't deserve this."

"No, he doesn't. He can't help who he falls in love with." RJ remembered the same words from that horrid night so many nights ago. "But we can't let him delude himself that anything more can come from punishing himself like this." RJ wiped the tear from his face before looking up to Verne, trying to hide it from him.

"So it's settled then." Verne sighed once more. "We talk with Hammy and get this over with." Verne groaned, dreading the conversation.

The two waited in an uneasy silence for Hammy to return and have the talk with him. They had no idea what would come out of this conversation. They hoped that they would be able to resolve the issue at hand as amiably as possible, but they had to mentally steel themselves for the worse if Hammy were to have another emotional breakdown.

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"Hey guys." Hammy greeted them, pulling with him three small bottles of chocolate milk. "I thought you guys might like one."

"Thanks, Hammy." Verne said as Hammy passed him a drink.

"Yeah, thanks Hammy." RJ smiled to him as he took the bottle from Hammy's hands.

"You're welcome." Hammy nodded and took a seat next to them, twisting his bottle open and starting to gulp down the contents. "It's good, RJ. Thanks for sharing." Hammy looked to RJ before taking another gulp of the milk.

"Hammy, can we talk to you about something?" Verne tentatively opened up the conversation. RJ took a deep breath, preparing himself for what was to come.

"What is it? Another raid?" Hammy asked.

"Hammy, I was talking with RJ and I told him about the feelings that you have for him." Verne stated.

"Oh." Hammy replied simply.

"Hammy, I don't think I'll be able to return the feelings that you want me to." RJ spoke up. "I don't know how I would be able to." He admitted. "I don't want you to beat yourself up because of this. I don't want to see you get hurt again." RJ looked to Hammy for some response.

"Hammy, do you understand what we're saying?" Verne asked, letting Hammy have his chance to speak up.

"I understand what you're saying." Hammy replied, looking up from his drink. "And you don't have to worry about me." Hammy assured them. "I've gotten over it, for the most part." Hammy took another sip of his drink. "It was hell to go through, but I'm okay now." Hammy said.

"Oh… That's… That's good." Verne stuttered. He and RJ looked to Hammy, rather surprised at his response. They had expected something along the lines of Hammy crying his heart out, bawling and screaming incoherently, miserable at the confessions. But instead, Hammy just sat there, listening to them, casually sipping and enjoying his drink. They looked to each other and a message seemed to cross both their minds.

Maybe Hammy was over it.

"Hammy, don't take this the wrong way, but your answer really surprised us." Verne admitted.

"We kinda thought that you'd be, I don't know, a little upset at what we said." RJ added. "But you seem to be taking it real well." There, Hammy put down his drink and looked to his two friends.

"After I saw you dancing around with Heather, seeing you so happy and carefree, I became really jealous and ran off crying." Hammy stated. RJ flinched, feeling sorry for Hammy. "Eventually, I realized that having feelings for you was a foolish thing for me to do. It wasn't worth all the pain I had to go through, so I just gave it all up. So I resolved to get over it and go on with my life." Hammy finished his speech, returning to the chocolate milk and drinking up some more.

"Oh." RJ and Verne blinked. Maybe Hammy really was over it. "So no hard feelings?" RJ asked.

"No." Hammy replied. "Don't worry RJ. You're still my best friend and I really care about you." Hammy assured him. "Just not in that way anymore." Hammy added.

"Oh, okay then." RJ nodded to Hammy's response. "That's good."

"Is there anything you want to ask us Hammy?" Verne asked him, wanting to know if there was anything Hammy wanted to know, for closure's sake.

"Yeah, just one thing." Hammy nodded before looking to RJ. "RJ, do you remember anything from that night when we drank that 'beer'?" Hammy looked to him.

"Yeah, I do." RJ lowered his head. "I'm sorry I lied to you about that."

"It's okay." Hammy forgave him. "I kinda thought that you did remember that night. But it's okay. It's in the past." RJ picked up his head and looked to Hammy. "No use dwelling on it, right?" Hammy cracked a small, uneasy smile.

"Besides, it's not as if you'd ever have those feelings for me anyways." He added.

"Yeah." RJ nodded before looking down, away from Hammy. He still blamed himself for all the pain and suffering Hammy had to go through. If he had been a true friend, he would have helped Hammy with his problem and this conversation would have happened earlier and have been more productive.

And something about Hammy's last words stung him deeply for some reason.

"Hammy, are you going to be okay?" Verne asked.

"Yeah." Hammy nodded. "Yeah, I think I will be."

"That's good." RJ smiled and came up to Hammy. "You'll be okay." RJ gave him a hug, patting Hammy in the back.

Verne, still to the side, breathed a deep sigh of relief. It was over. Hammy was going to be okay.

"Why don't I get us another case of chocolate milk?" RJ offered, breaking the hug with Hammy. "When I get back, we can plan for that big raid we'll do in a couple of days." RJ suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea." Verne agreed happily.

"Okay." Hammy replied, nodding to the raccoon.

"I'll be right back then." RJ said as he strutted away to his pad.

He needed to get away from Verne and Hammy. Something was wrong about this whole thing, but he couldn't put a finger on it. His gut was telling him something didn't feel right. Even then, he was still unsure. He didn't exactly understand what his gut was telling him.

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"Hey Verne!" Ozzie called to the turtle. Verne looked up, still munching on some carrot sticks with a ranch dressing dip. He quickly swallowed the stuff down before replying.

"Oh, hey Ozzie! What do you need?" Verne asked him.

"I was just wondering if you've seen Hammy around." Ozzie replied.

"No, I haven't seen him lately." Verne replied. "Oh, um, you want some?" Verne pointed to the carrot sticks next to him, offering Ozzie some.

"Oh, thank you." Ozzie happily took a piece and dipped some in the white dip next to it. "Is Hammy okay?" Verne asked. "He hasn't acted like himself lately."

"Oh." Verne sighed. "It's a long story." Verne advised him.

"Is he still trying to get over RJ?" Ozzie asked, chewing on his carrot.

"What?" Verne reeled back at the question. "You mean you know what is going on with him?"

"Verne, you're not the only one who has loved and lost." Ozzie reminded him. "Seeing Hammy's actions over the past few days kinda reminded me of how I acted when I lost the first love of my life."

"Do you think that he'll be okay?" Verne asked for his opinion.

"It'll take time." Ozzie replied. "But everything will work out soon enough." He grinned at his last statement.

"What do you mean by that?" Verne wondered what was with Ozzie's prediction.

"I kinda figured that being too close to Hammy, you wouldn't notice other things around you." Ozzie replied, finishing up the last of his carrot. "You know I love acting, Verne." Ozzie reminded him.

"Of course, Ozzie." Verne replied. "You're the best one I know. You've saved us countless times." Verne added.

"Thanks. It's what I do." Ozzie appreciated the praise. "Being an actor, you also learn how to read people." Ozzie smiled. "And I have noticed a lot of things about everyone over the last year."

"Oh, like?" Verne asked.

"How much Stella and Tiger have gotten close." Ozzie started off.

"Oh, everyone knows that." Verne scoffed at Ozzie's statement.

"Well, did you know that…" Ozzie moved up to Verne and whispered into his ear.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Verne screamed his lungs out. "I DID NOT NEED TO KNOW THAT!" Verne yelled out. He shook his head, trying to shake away the images that were trying to form in his mind.

"Well, you thought you knew everything that was going on." Ozzie snickered. "And I hate to say this, but Stella, Lou, and Penny also know what's been up with Hammy." Ozzie told him with a more solemn tone. "We were all worried about him, but we knew that Hammy would only open up to you. So we left the situation to you, believing that if we got involved, things would only become more complicated and we may look as if we were alienating Hammy from the family."

"I see." Verne nodded his head, understanding the rationale of the opossum. "I understand why you kept away." Verne told him. "Still, I wish I had a little help with Hammy."

"We helped when we can, especially when Hammy got hurt." Ozzie pointed out. "But it was best if he made it through this without our interference." He added. "He's growing up and unfortunately, he has to learn from this experience, as painful as it is."

"Hmm." Verne somewhat disagreed with the logic Ozzie argued, but he understood that the end results would benefit Hammy in the long run.

"But don't worry, things will work out." Ozzie placed his hand on Verne's shoulder. "I don't know how everything will work out in the end, but I know it will turn out for the best."

"I hope so." Verne sighed. "I really hope so." Verne looked up and saw Hammy emerging from the forest, most likely after having eaten some of the nuts he had stored away.

Verne and Ozzie watched as he walked to the log, passing RJ and Heather. They sat together, eating some mini pizza's that they had heated up earlier for their lunch, chatting about this and that. Hammy walked past them, not giving them a second glance, not caring that they were together.

Hammy did seem like he was over it. Still, Verne felt sorry for him. He could only imagine how hurt Hammy must feel. But at least he was getting through it. Verne looked back to Ozzie, catching him sighing, a small frown on his face. It seemed like Ozzie sympathized with Hammy as well. Verne felt a little better realizing this.

Hammy at least had family to understand how he must be feeling now.

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If you have any advice or suggestions, please feel free to review me. All flames will be ignored.

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	11. The Setting Sun

**Spring Showers**

Chapter Eleven: The Setting Sun

"Hey RJ, you wanna listen to some more songs at my place?" Heather asked, chowing down the mini pizza in her hand.

"Sure, sounds like fun." RJ nodded. He took a bite of his pizza, but he didn't really savor it. Something about all the food he had eaten as of late tasted rather stale. He was convinced that the food from the last raid was probably a little older than he thought. He sighed. He wondered why humans saved things past the expiration date sometimes. There was, after all, a reason why they were called expiration dates.

"Don't know if you want, but I found another CD from that guy who did that other CD the night before." Heather asked.

"Oh." The mention of that night depressed him somewhat, now know the consequences of those actions. Technically, he rationalized, he did nothing wrong. All he did was just listen to music with a good friend, right? So why should some stupid squirrel's overreaction to such an innocent activity bother him? "That sounds cool!" RJ replied with a little more enthusiasm.

"Great!" Heather replied happily.

"You want some more soda?" RJ offered.

"Yeah, I'd love some!" Heather replied. "Got any diet soda?"

"Uh, sure, let me get some." RJ replied, his smile now a little more forced. Despite all the artificial flavorings and miscellaneous preservatives he pumped into his body from the foods he would eat, he hated the diet sodas, the weird after taste always bothering him afterwards. "Give me high fructose corn syrup any day." He said to himself silently as he searched for some diet soda after grabbing one for himself in his fridge.

Thankfully, Stella had some of the diet cola stuff she was willing to give him. Carrying back the two cans of soda, he reminded himself to get her a six pack of the stuff on the next raid.

"Oh, thanks RJ!" Heather said as she took her can of soda out of his hands.

"How come you like drinking that stuff?" RJ asked, wondering why she preferred drinking the aspartame laced beverage.

"I just don't want to put in all those carbs into my body and put on too much weight." Heather replied, drinking down her soda. RJ stared down at his drink, a regular soda of a different brand, one that he had taken a liking to. He lifted the can and gulped down the stuff. Smacking his lips, he felt an odd sort of satisfaction from it. He didn't know why.

"I don't know why you like drinking that stuff." Heather seemed to come out of nowhere, commenting on his choice of beverage. "You're going to go all tubby if you keep on drinking down that stuff."

"Yeah, I don't really care though." RJ looked over himself. He didn't care if he did develop a bit of a bulge.

"Too bad you don't have a metabolism like Hammy." Heather added. The mention of Hammy's name caught RJ's ear. "He drinks that same stuff all the time and he never puts on any weight."

"Yeah, he really is one hyperactive little guy." RJ didn't know why, but he felt a bit… flattered.

"Come on RJ!" Heather grasped RJ's hand and pulled him. "Let's get back to my place and have some fun!" Heather smiled.

"Okay, sure!" RJ agreed. He looked forward to listening to some good music, hoping that it would at the very least distract him from reality for a little while.

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"I can't find the CD!" Heather looked through the albums of CD's she had collected over the past year. "I know I have it somewhere here."

"Why don't you put on some of your other music on?" RJ suggested, exasperated after waiting nearly half an hour to listen to something. "I'd like to hear some of the other stuff you have."

"Okay then." Heather perked up, delighted at hearing RJ's interest in hearing some of her other music. "I have this mix that I had Stella burn for me." She pulled out a disk labeled "Heather's Mix V.1" out of another album full of other mix CD's. "I think you'll like it."

"Sure, put it on!" RJ said as he placed an earbud into his ear.

…

♪… WWWWWHHHHHOOOOOAAAAA!... AAAAAHHHHH!♪

"AAH!" RJ pulled the bud out of his ear, the sudden loud screaming catching him off guard. He rubbed his ear, trying to stop the ringing in his ear. "That's so loud!" RJ somewhat shouted, unable to really control the volume of his voice.

"Sorry!" Heather smiled, a bit embarrassed. RJ looked back and smiled uneasily.

"It's okay." RJ said, his hearing slowly returning. I think that song was just a little too loud for my taste." RJ put it lightly. Though the earbud was out of his ear, he could have sworn that the artist was just screaming out the entire song, the bass almost overpowering the voice.

"Here I think this will be better." Heather said and pressed the buttons on the CD player, advancing a few tracks. RJ picked up the earbud off the ground, noting that the screaming song was stopped, but he waited until Heather put on hers before he felt it was safe to put his on. What he heard playing this time really confused him.

"What the?" RJ tried to listen to the song, but was confused at the words he was listening to. Or rather, he wondered if what he was hearing were actual words at all.

"Shake, shake, shake that booty…" RJ could hear Heather sing out the words of the song. He tried to dance to the music, but he soon realized the difficulty… and the weirdness… of dancing to the song.

"WHOA! Heather, a little too close there!" RJ backed off from Heather a bit once he realized that Heather was pushing up and rubbing her body against his in a rather provocative way.

"Come on RJ, dance with me!" Heather encouraged him. However, the fact that her tail was moving up against his leg was not helping her cause.

"Uh, that's okay, Heather." RJ said, pulling out the earbud again. "Actually, I think I should take care of a few things I have been meaning to do for a while now." RJ excused himself. "There is still the big raid we have in a few days.

"Uh, okay." Heather pulled out her own earbud and looked to RJ rather dejectedly. "You sure you don't want to listen to any more?" She asked.

"Maybe later." RJ replied, scratching his head. "Why not later today, okay?" He tried to make her feel better.

"Okay, cool." Heather nodded, smiling a little, which was a relief to RJ. "Maybe I'll get some different songs for later." Heather said.

"Yeah, that sounds good." RJ replied politely, in his mind thankful that he wouldn't have to listen to any more screaming or incomprehensible babbling. "A little variety never hurt." Still, he looked forward to listening to more songs with her. Maybe she still had that Ben whatever guys CD. Who knows, maybe they may do more.

"Good idea." Heather nodded. "So later tonight then?" She asked, hopefully.

"Sure, it's a date." RJ replied with a smile. He moved up and gave her a quick hug before pulling back, still keeping his hands in hers.

"Okay!" Heather nearly jumped for joy upon hearing those words.

"So, I'll see you later then, okay!" RJ said, letting go of Heather's hands but only widening his smile. He started to step back away from her to leave.

"See ya then!" Heather said as she waved good bye to him. She looked forward to tonight. "It's a date." She nearly squealed repeating it to herself. She immediately dropped everything and started to fix up everything, including herself.

She wanted tonight to go perfectly. She had her chance with RJ.

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♪La da da dum da, la da da dum da…♪

Hammy hummed to himself as he dug a hole into the soft ground, making space to re-conceal some of the leftover nuts he had dug up recently for a meal.

As of late, that is all Hammy has been doing. He'd go out on his own, seeking one of his stores of nuts, and eat some, reburying the rest to keep them safe. Come autumn, he'd stock up on more nuts for the winter and for whenever he'd want a snack. He'd just follow the same cycle over and over to pass the time until he had to get some sleep.

Still, just eating nuts was getting a little tedious. Next time, he thought, he'll try some of those macadamia nut chocolate chip cookies he had at the log. It had already been a while since he had tasted a good cookie after all. A long while.

For some reason, in his head, a tune started to play over and over. He had heard a pretty young female human singing it a long time ago, but only now did the song seem to manifest itself in his thoughts. He liked playing the song over and over in his head now, the lyrics giving him a bit of comfort, as ironic as they were for him now.

"♪ You are my sunshine, my only sunshine,

You make me happy when skies are grey,

You'll never know dear how much I love you,

Please don't take my sunshine away. ♪"

Hammy sighed. He placed the nuts he had into the hole he had dug and started to pile up the dirt on top, concealing the nuts underground once more.

"Maybe I should go back to the log and see what's going on." Hammy said to himself, curious to what the rest of the family was up to now. Making sure that his store of nuts was safe, he started to make his way back to the log.

"Hey Hammy, is that you?" A voice called out to him.

"Huh? Oh, Stella. Hi!" Hammy waved to her. Seeing her and Tiger coming towards him, he decided to stay put and wait for them.

"Hey Hammy, what are you doing over here by yourself?" Heather asked, a little concerned for him, especially after the last two times Hammy went out on his own. Seeing him hurt like that really did scare her, though she maintained her cool to help him.

"Oh, just taking care of my nuts." Hammy replied. Stella and Tiger bit their tongues, knowing that what Hammy said could be so horribly misconstrued into meaning something of a not so innocent nature.

"That's good." Stella replied simply.

"So Hamilton, how are you feeling?" Tiger addressed him. "Are your wounds healing well?" He asked.

"Um, yeah. They are doing good." Hammy cracked a smile, a bit flattered at Tiger's more formal address to him. "Stella did a really good job helping me." He added, his words seeming to bring a smile to the faces of Stella and Tiger.

"Thanks Hammy." Stella said.

"She truly does wonders, does she not?" Tiger added, complementing her. Stella fought back from blushing at his comment, but her body language was more than enough to give her feelings away.

"Uh, Hammy?" Stella said, trying to divert attention away from herself. "Are you doing okay?" She asked, her tone now filled with concern.

"Yeah, I'm recovering from my injuries okay." Hammy replied, confused at why she would ask him virtually the same question Tiger had just asked him seconds ago.

"Hammy, I'm not talking about your injuries." Stella clarified.

"So then what are you… oh." Hammy realized what she was really asking him. "So who told you?' Hammy lowered his head slightly, feeling embarrassed about discussing the sensitive topic.

"No one told us anything." Tiger spoke up. "We understand what you are going through, Hamilton. We've gone through the same experiences before. We have loved and lost before."

"But you have one another now." Hammy pointed out. "You may have loved and lost before, but you've found someone now." He added. "I have no one." He stated. Stella and Tiger were a little taken aback by his comment, his tone of voice, his facial expressions, his body language… it's as if everything he was saying was detached from any emotion, as if he were just stating logical argument and nothing more.

"You have family." Stella tried to combat his logic, maybe to give him a little comfort.

"You know that it's not the same." Hammy replied, staring at her. Stella didn't like the dull coldness she could see in his eyes. "And I don't think I want to try to fall in love again."

"In time, you will change." Tiger stated. "Maybe you may not be ready for it now, but someday you will find someone who will make you change that view and you'll fall in love with them." He added.

"But would they fall in love with me?" He countered.

"You may not find your true love the first, the second, or even the third time around, but you will find someone someday who will love you as much as you love them." Stella supported Tiger's argument.

"What's the use of trying to fall in love if I'm only going to get hurt over and over again?" Hammy said. "I might as well save myself the heartbreak and forget about trying anymore."

"Hammy, please just trust us." Stella appealed to him. "Love is worth it."

"I don't know." Hammy shook his head, a little tired at the conversation that seemed to go nowhere and do nothing for him. "I… I just want to go and rest now." Hammy moved away from them.

"Hammy, we're here for you." Stella sighed, a bit frustrated at his resistance. "You know you can talk to us about anything. We'd do anything to make you feel better." She added.

"It's okay." Hammy said. "I'm doing okay now." He assured them.

"Hammy, you'll find someone else, trust me." Stella told him, moving up to him and rubbing his back to help him feel comfortable.

"You will find someone to love you." Tiger reaffirmed Stella's statement.

"I just wish it was RJ." Hammy didn't look back as he pulled away from Stella's hand and started to make his way back to the log for a nap. After a few steps, he figured that Stella and Tiger weren't going to follow him. He considered that a good thing.

He wouldn't be bothered by them about this anytime soon.

"He's not over it." Stella said to Tiger softly as they watched the squirrel walk away from them, noting his sluggish gait.

"But he has given up completely." Tiger sighed. They continued to watch as they started to hear Hammy humming softly to himself.

"♪ You are my sunshine, my only sunshine,

You make me happy when skies are grey,

You'll never know dear how much I love you,

Please don't take my sunshine away. ♪"

Hammy sighed as he assured himself of his resolve. He'll never try again. He will always have the feelings in his heart, he realized. But no one will ever know. It would be best just to act as if he was over it, to keep everyone off his back. He learned that busying himself with menial tasks helped to keep his mind occupied on other things and off of his feelings. He realized this after the first time he had done it unconsciously, only catching himself and realizing what he had done in a moment of close examination. He had managed to separate himself from his feelings and act as if he was completely fine.

And it was easy. It was so easy, he continued to do it, fooling everyone.

Though Ozzie may be the best actor in the family, he may become just as good as he is. Somehow, he'll continue to figure out ways to mask his emotions. He'll find a way to act like he used to so the family will feel better and hopefully forget about everything about this.

Especially RJ. Everything will go back to normal. That was best for the family.

He will never try again, he was sure of it. He sighed again, gulping, holding himself back from crying. He reminded himself that he was done crying. He had formed his resolve. There was no use thinking of what could have been.

He still had to continue living after all.

No longer interested in what anyone else was doing tonight, he looked forward to getting home to sleep, to escape into his dreams.

At least in them, he still had his sunshine.

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If you have any advice or suggestions, please feel free to review me. All flames will be ignored.

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	12. Revelations

**Spring Showers**

Chapter Twelve: Revelations

"Hey Heather!" RJ greeted her as he walked into her little place. "So what have you been up to?" RJ looked around, noticing a few little things that seemed to have changed since the last time he was here earlier in the afternoon.

"Oh, I just wanted to tidy things up a bit." She replied, noting RJ scanning her little place, his eyes eventually coming to rest on her.

"You look really nice." He noted with a smile.

"Thanks." Heather returned the smile, happy that he had noticed the care that she had put in brushing down her fur.

"Oh, I brought something for us to eat." RJ shook his head, remembering that he had brought with himself something for the two of them to eat. It wasn't much, one of those prepackaged lunch packs that the younger humans seemed to like taking with them somewhere. "I hope you don't mind mini-hotdogs."

"I'm sure that they are good." She replied. "I've also found some more music that we can listen to." She added.

"Cool." He approached her gave her a quick hug before the two of them sat down together. RJ pulled off the plastic cover off of the container, offering Heather some of the food first. "Ladies first." He said to her.

"Thank you RJ." Heather blushed. "You're such a gentleman." Heather complimented him as she took one of the mini-hotdogs.

"You're welcome." RJ added.

"Here's some music I think you'll like." She told him as she loaded a CD into the player. Closing the lid, she handed an earbud to RJ and put hers on before she pressed the PLAY button.

"Hmm, this is nice." RJ thought to himself as the song played. A lot slower, understandable lyrics, and a nice beat. He turned and watched Heather as she nodded her head to the tune and softly sang the lyrics.

RJ made himself comfortable, popping in a hotdog into his mouth and just immersing himself into the music. He could imagine the notes playing in his head, his tail seeming to dance to the beat of the music.

"So what do you think RJ?" Heather asked, moving next to him and settling down next to him, whispering into his open ear.

"This is really nice." RJ replied to her, taking her hand into his, smiling to her. "Thanks for the company."

"You're welcome RJ." Heather moved up to him and hugged him, resting her head on his shoulder. RJ looked down at her for a second before he rested his head back and returned to listening to the music. He liked hanging around with Heather, being able to unwind and forget about everything else. He'd have to make it a point to do this more often. Maybe he could do this again tomorrow. "Hey Hea…"

As he opened his eyes to ask Heather, he found that his mouth was currently preoccupied with something else. He knew what was happening, what he and Heather were doing. He knew the feeling on his lips quite well, having kissed others before now.

Feeling Heather's lips move across his, licking tenderly and pushing gently against his, he could only hold still as he felt the sensations of the kiss move through him. His mind knew what was going on, but his body did not respond. It did not wish to. As Heather pulled back, giving his lips one more lick, she looked to him with eyes filled with love and tenderness.

"Ha…" RJ stopped himself and blinked. Something about the situation… her kiss… RJ licked his lips, trying to figure out the feeling that was there. It felt familiar, the tingling on his lips just like the sensations he had before, from the many kisses he had with other females from before. But that was it. It felt like any other kiss. It was no different. It was the same, old thing.

"Heather." RJ said before biting his lip. Heather's happy smile slowly melted away as she saw that RJ did not react to her gesture of affection as she had hoped.

"Is something wrong, RJ?" Heather looked to him, a little frantic. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"No, it's okay." RJ took her hands and shook his head. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"RJ, I really like you." Heather admitted to him. "I really respect you for all that you've done for me and the family." She added.

"Thanks, Heather." RJ smiled, but sighed afterwards. "But…"

"But you don't feel the same about me." Heather took him by surprise and said the very words he was about to say.

"Yeah." RJ lowered his head. "I like you too Heather, but not in that way." RJ confessed. "You mean a lot to me, but I think you should look for someone better than me."

"But…" Heather was about to interject, but RJ placed his hand over her mouth, keeping her from responding.

"Heather, there is someone out there better for you, better than I can ever be." RJ spoke to her. "There are too many things about me that you wouldn't like. There are many things that I regret doing in my life. You deserve more than I can ever give you. You deserve better than me, understand?" There, RJ removed his hand.

"Yeah." Heather nodded.

"One day, you'll make someone the happiest guy in the world." RJ assured her.

"But it's just not going to be you." Heather sighed.

"Sucks to be me, huh?" RJ chuckled.

"Yeah, especially giving up on a girl like me." Heather cracked a smile. RJ cracked a smile of his own, but it soon faded away as he lowered his head.

"I should go now." RJ spoke up. Picking up his head, he could see Heather looking back at him, this time with a much different face. She looked worried.

"Got some things to think about?" Heather asked.

"Yeah." RJ nodded. "A lot of things to think about."

"Can I walk you home?" She offered. RJ looked back up to her, a bit surprised at her offer of help. At this point, RJ thought that she would want him out of her face for rejecting her affections for him. Looking straight to her eyes for any signs of her emotions, he did not see any sign of spite or hate.

He only saw respect and admiration.

"Okay." RJ nodded, accepting her offer. They smiled to one another, a sort of understanding now between them. They pulled the buds out of their ears, the music having finished long ago. Standing up, she offered her hand to RJ to help him up. RJ gratefully took her hand and stood up.

Walking back to RJ's pad, they stayed silent. Heather glanced over to RJ several times, seeing him with a lost look in his eyes, deep into thoughts that she knew she would not understand no matter how well he could explain them to her.

And it was best that he didn't. She understood that she had no right to rifle into things that she knew didn't concern herself. This was to be his struggle, his decision.

Coming to his pad, they looked to one another once more. Gazing into one another's eyes, they came to a realization.

"Good night RJ." Heather sighed.

"Good night to you, too, Heather." RJ smiled. "Thanks." He pulled her into a hug. "For everything."

"Anytime, RJ." Heather hugged him back tightly. They stayed together for a little while before they parted.

"Hey Heather?" RJ spoke up.

"Yeah RJ?" Heather wondered what he was going to say.

"Do you mind if I come by, I don't know, tomorrow night to listen to some music with you?" He asked kindly. Heather smiled genuinely.

"Sure." She giggled. "Anytime, RJ." She calmed herself, but the smile held on her lips. "Anytime."

"Thanks, Heather." RJ smiled back and let go of her hand. With a simple nod, they left one another.

Heather took a deep breath and allowed herself to reflect on everything that had just happened in the past hour or so. She couldn't understand exactly what she was thinking, but she need to. So she sought out someone she believed that could help her.

She needed her father now more than ever.

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"Jade." Ozzie held a small wooden heart in his paws, turning it over, inspecting the grain and smoothness of the small token. He closed his eyes, remembering his late wife, of the joy that she had brought into his life. He could remember every detail about her better than any picture ever could, from her warm and loving blue eyes, her soft white fur, that unmistakable, enrapturing scent that always made him feel weak.

"God, I miss you." Ozzie held the heart to his own, wishing that he could see her, be with her once more. But he thanked her for being with him for that short time they were together, by allowing him the great privilege of being her husband, and for loving him with all her heart. He knew in his heart that she loved him just as much as he loves her, even now.

"Dad?"

"Heather?" Ozzie turned around and found his daughter walking to him, stopping short of a few steps.

"Are you busy, Dad?" She asked softly.

"No, Heather." Ozzie stood up and walked over to her, capturing her in his arms into a hug. "You know that you are first and foremost the most important person in my life." Ozzie hugged her tight, in his heart the memory of Jade. He thanked her from the bottom of his heart for the greatest gift she could ever give him: Heather.

"Thanks Dad." Heather rested her head on her father's shoulder, seeking solace in his warm and comforting embrace. "I really do miss doing this." She admitted.

"Then we should do this more often." Ozzie replied with a smile.

"Dad, is that mom's heart token?" She asked, noticing the familiar wooden object in her father's hand.

"Yes, Heather, it is." Ozzie brought up the token to Heather, letting her hold and examine it.

"You were thinking about mom again, weren't you?" She examined the token. Granted, to her, the token didn't seem like much, but she could understand the value that her father placed on the simple object.

"Yeah, I was." Ozzie sighed.

"Dad, can I ask you something?" Heather asked, leaning up to him. Ozzie took the action as a sign that all was not well with her.

"Go ahead, honey." He replied, placing his hand over her back and massaging her gently.

"Was mom the first girl you fell in love with?" She wondered.

"No, she wasn't." Ozzie answered. "I had a few other relationships with other girls before your mom."

"How come those relationships didn't work out?" She continued.

"First," Ozzie shifted, moving until she looked to him eye to eye. "I want to know how come you are asking me these questions."

"I…" Heather stopped. She took a deep breath before continuing. "I thought that I liked RJ and I…" Heather stopped, feeling a blush come over her face. "I told him how I felt about him."

"And what happened?" Ozzie sighed to himself, already figuring what had conspired considering her actions.

"He told me that he liked me too." Heather said, her breath getting heavier. "But not in the same way."

"I'm sorry, Heather." Ozzie held her tight, hoping to comfort her in her moment of sadness. "You must be taking this really hard." He reasoned.

"Actually, Dad…" She spoke. "It's not as bad as I thought it would be."

"Really?" Ozzie looked to her, reading her face, trying to see if she was lying or not. "Are you sure?"

"That's why I asked you why your first relationships didn't work out." She explained. "I wanted to know if it's normal to feel this way after finding out…"

"You really didn't feel that way for him." Ozzie interjected. "I guess you are realizing that the feelings you had for him weren't as deep as you thought they would be.

"So you mean…" She started, but was interrupted once more.

"Heather, I'm going to tell you something about love and relationships, something that I have learned through the many relationships I have had in my life." Ozzie informed her, hoping to help her get through this time. "And in time, I know you will come understand my words." However, he also understood the meaning of actually having the experience to understand what he was to tell her.

"What is it, Dad?" Heather asked, desiring to know what words of wisdom he had to impart to her.

"Love has been, is now, and will always never be easy." Ozzie told her sincerely. "Some people say love is all about give and take, or love is about great sacrifices for one another. Some say that two people are meant for each other if they share the same interests, and even some people say that opposites attract." Ozzie explained to her. Looking at Heather, he could see that his words did somewhat confuse her, but she was at least getting the general idea of his message. "Love will never be about protecting or dying, saving or surviving. Love is never about the physical attraction or the emotional binds. It's much more than that, but oh so simple."

"So what is love?" She asked, trying to get to the point.

"Love is looking into your partner's eyes and being able to understand everything about them and yet still be intrigued by them. Love is holding onto your partner's hand and knowing that they will never let you go. Love is getting into a fight, knowing that, though you may disagree with their opinion, you respect their opinion nonetheless." Ozzie continued, his words firm in their meaning but gentle in their truth.

"Love is just…" Heather tried to figure his message out.

"Life." Ozzie completed. "True love takes a life of its own. It's the realization of the truth that, just knowing each other, understanding one another, for all their talents and quirks, for all their successes and failings, your partner has made you a better person, just by being there, and you have done the same for them."

"Oh." Heather came to understand what her father's meaning of love was. Though she may not completely understand it all now, she knew that one day it will all sink it. She hugged her father tight, thankful for his wisdom. Just hearing his words brought order to the confusion in her mind. "Thanks, Dad." She looked to him and kissed him on the cheek.

"And Heather." Ozzie wanted to finish up his speech. "True love is also learning how to let go when the time comes." Ozzie sighed, clutching her tight. "When your mother died, I didn't know what to do. I had lost the one person in my life that made me a better person." He sighed. "But after all the tears and heartache, I came to realize that she wouldn't want me to do what I was doing, just grieving for her all the time."

"What happened?" Heather asked.

"You did." He smiled down to her. "It took me to realize that though I did not have your mother, I had you."

"Me?" She asked.

"I realized that, as your father, I had to take care of you." He told her. "You are the greatest gift your mother ever gave me." He said proudly. "I thought that I was a better person for being a good husband to your mom, but I realized that, in her eyes, I could be an even better person by being a good, no great father to you."

"You are a great father to me, Dad." Heather affirmed.

"And that was the promise I made to your mother." He confessed. "I would be the best father I can for you so you can grow up to be a happy, healthy person that your mother would be proud of."

"I'm sure she is proud of me." She smiled, comforting her father.

"Just as proud as I am of you." He added, chuckling. "I love you Heather." Ozzie sighed and looked to her proudly.

"I love you too, Dad." Heather once more threw herself into her father's arms into another hug. "Thanks, Dad, for everything."

"Are you going to be okay?" He asked her, stroking her back.

"Yeah, Dad, I will be." She smiled. "Though I don't understand some of the things you say or some of the things you do sometimes, you really do help me make a lot of sense of a lot of things." She chuckled. "Thanks again, Dad." She smiled.

"You're welcome, Heather." Ozzie replied happily. "I think." Ozzie chuckled, happy that he had done his job as a father well, but even happier knowing that she was going to be okay.

Holding her and comforting her, he thought about all that was coming to pass. In his mind, he could somewhat see what will happen, but he was cautious, still unsure how everything will play out. All he could do is watch, hoping that it will work out for the best for everyone.

"And so the final act begins. What has destiny prepared for us?"

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If you have any advice or suggestions, please feel free to review me. All flames will be ignored.

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	13. Chasing a Dream

**Spring Showers**

Chapter Thirteen: Chasing a Dream

"Hiya, Hammy." RJ looked to the young squirrel resting his head on his chest, his body curled up around his own.

"Hey." Hammy greeted him before he pressed his head to RJ's chest, hearing him take deep breaths, listening to the strong beating of his heart.

"What are you doing?" RJ asked, shifting his hands until they came to a rest on Hammy's back. And it felt good to hold him.

"Just resting." Hammy turned up to face RJ, smiling up to him. "And thinking."

"Oh, about what?" He asked, returning the smile as he looked back to him, interested to learn what was going on in his mind.

"You." Hammy replied simply, turning away from him slightly. "And me." He looked back at him thoughtfully, looking to see his reaction.

"Can you tell me more?" RJ inquired as he widened his smile, hoping to encourage Hammy to go into a little more detail so he could better understand him.

"I was thinking…" Hammy started before pushing himself up RJ's body, coming to rest his head under his chin, wrapping his hands around RJ's neck. "About how much I love you." Hammy tightened his hold around his neck. "And I wondered…" He hesitated for a second. "If you love me just as much."

"Hammy!" RJ was somewhat taken aback at Hammy's words. He gently pulled Hammy up until they faced one another, staring at each other, eye to eye.

"If I ever made you doubt my feelings for you, please forgive me." He apologized sincerely. "But always know no matter what, no matter what happens between us, that I will always care for you." RJ spoke to Hammy.

He watched for his reaction, looking to his face, finding himself mentally tracing the curves of his cheeks, the moist tip of his nose, the thin, slightly open mouth. He took his hand and placed it on his face, feeling the fur in his hand, so soft and smooth.

And his eyes. Just looking into them, he could get lost in the depth within them. The twinkle in his eye, one he always saw whenever he looked eye to eye with him, shone brightly, representing more about him, telling him so much more about him than any physical description ever could. And now, looking to those same eyes, they spoke to him in volumes.

And he blinked.

"I love you." He told him, smiling widely and proudly.

"I love you too." And their lips met, pressing into a gentle kiss.

Hammy surrendered to the kiss, swooning, the rush of emotions that surged through him, emotions that he and RJ now shared, all with this simple kiss. He didn't want it to end.

"I love you." RJ spoke after they broke the kiss, slowly regaining his breath. "I love you with everything that I am." He smiled to him, raising his hand up to Hammy's face, admiring how beautiful the young, red squirrel was.

"You do?" Hammy grinned. He felt a little giddy, never expecting such romantic words from RJ.

"Yeah, Hammy." RJ nodded. "Of course." He added, chuckling as he moved until the tips of their noses were now touching. "It's because you help me become everything good that I want to be."

"Really?" Hammy blushed, truly amazed at RJ's words, at himself, finding it hard to believe that he, simple, little he, could do so much, mean so much to RJ.

"Yeah." RJ reaffirmed his declaration. "I love you." As RJ placed his hand on his face, he rolled his head in his hands, letting him feel the softness of his fur. He opened his eyes and looked to him longingly. In his eyes, Hammy could also see the same fire, the same passion he felt for him.

"I love you." They closed their eyes as they leaned into one another for one more heartfelt, passionate kiss.

"Thank you." He whispered as they met. Nothing in the world could separate them now.

Here and now, everything made perfect sense.

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Hammy lay still on the soft bedding of the log, staring up to the ceiling blankly, not wanting to get up yet, even after having been up for over an hour already. He stretched his hand out, trying to grasp at a stream of light, already knowing that he wouldn't catch it. Not in this world anyways.

In his dreams, light was a tangible, amorphous substance, something he could hold in his hands, providing him light and warmth. It was so unlike the real thing. But then again, in his dreams, he had everything he wanted.

He didn't want to get out of bed. Whenever he heard the stirrings of one of the other family members, he would feign sleep, shutting his eyes and staying limp, hoping to fool them to leave him alone. One by one, he watched carefully with thinly opened eyes, controlling himself to stop him from making any sudden movements, lest he alert them to his deception. He saw Verne, then Stella, come over and watch him, a small frown seeming to be set in their faces. Hammy could tell that they were still worried about him. But if anything, the fact that they couldn't tell that he was awake while they watched him only seemed to support the idea that he could fool them.

Who knows, in time, he'd be able to convince them that nothing was wrong with him and leave him alone. Then everything would go back to normal, with everyone else none the wiser.

He turned and tossed a little, trying to find a comfortable position to rest, but failing to do so. With every movement, he grew hotter and uncomfortable. Eventually, he just gave up and decided to get up. Pushing himself up, he stretched out, yawning, letting the kinks out his body, all before collapsing back onto the bed. He reached his hand over to his opposite arm and gently pinched himself.

"Ouch." Hammy winced slightly, before letting out a defeated sigh. Though he disliked it, he had to remind himself of what was real and what was a dream, that what he had experienced before waking up was just that. "It's just a dream." He told himself, as if to convince himself of the truth.

The cold, hard, and lonely truth.

Oh how he wished, however, that it was reality, that he could just switch the worlds. But he had given up on wishing for what he knew would never come to pass.

He sighed. Picking himself up, off of the foam bedding, and made his way to the back of the log where the storage of food was kept. Picking through the various foodstuffs that had already stored away for the winter, still months away, he grabbed a small bag of cookies, the macadamia nut chocolate chips cookies he had stashed away for a special occasion. He took them, hoping that maybe he could enjoy them and lift his spirits, if only for the day. With his late breakfast in tow, he made his way outside to the waking world.

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"Morning everyone." Hammy feigned a smile and waved to everyone else as he walked out, seeing everyone going about their morning routine.

"Hey, Hammy!" Quillo, Bucky, and Spike rush to him, happy to see their friend finally up and awake. "How did you sleep?" They jointly asked.

"Just fine." Hammy chuckled, seeing the triplets helped to lift his spirits. It had been a while since he had played with them last. More and more, he realized that his time with them had lessened significantly. At this, he suddenly felt really old and he missed having fun with them. "I'm doing just fine." Maybe he could start playing around with them again. It would definitely help raise his spirits.

"Have you eaten yet?" Quillo asked.

"Our mom is going to give us some of this weird stuff called granola." Bucky stuck out his tongue, not too fond of the breakfast that their parents were making for them. "It tastes like cardboard."

"It's not too bad." Hammy gave his opinion, having tried some of the stuff before. Granted, the granola usually came with nuts, so he was a little biased.

"Still, we'd rather eat something else." Spike remarked. "Anything else!"

"Hey, I've got an idea." Hammy stormed up an idea. "Here, why don't you three chow down on these and I'll go have some breakfast with your parents." Hammy suggested, holding out his bag of cookies to them.

"SURE! COOL! AWESOME!" They all jumped for joy, free from having to eat the hard and weird tasting stuff and being able to chow down on the good stuff.

"Okay, here." Hammy smiled to them. He felt good helping them, even though he really shouldn't have done that. But still, he could understand their feelings and he wanted to do something to help. "You go on and I'll go to your parents." He told them.

"Okay then!" They carried the bag away with them. "We'll see ya later!" They added. "And thanks!"

"You're welcome!" Hammy laughed, feeling so much better now. He watched the triplets head to their little area, probably to eat the cookies and jam to some of their music. As they disappeared from his view, he turned around and headed towards the direction of Lou and Penny. He knew that he would have a bit of explaining to do to them for giving the cookies to the triplets instead of letting eat the healthy and wholesome granola.

Then again, it was granola. He just prayed that they had nuts in them.

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"Oh, hey Verne! Hey Stella!" RJ greeted them with a smile.

"Hey there, RJ!" Stella returned the greeting. "You seem to be in a good mood today." Stella noted the extra bounce in his usual strut.

"Uh, yeah, I guess I am." RJ was a little surprised at the observation, that his feelings would be so obvious when he didn't notice it himself.

"So why are you so happy?" Verne asked with a half smile. "You have a big plan for us for tomorrow's big raid on the Johansen house?"

"You can say that." RJ replied, bearing a mysterious grin. "Where is everybody else?" He looked around, hoping to see some of the other family members.

"Lou and Penny are having breakfast with their kids right now." Stella remembered talking to Penny earlier that morning.

"How about Heather?" RJ inquired. "And Ozzie?" He added.

"They should be together as well, most likely at Ozzie's place, or maybe by the log." Verne replied, a little unsure of where the two opossums were.

"And I think Hammy may still be asleep in the log." Stella added as an afterthought. "He's been waking up a lot later than usual." She noted.

"Yeah, but I guess he just needs the rest." Verne sighed, wondering if Hammy really was still sleeping. As he looked to Hammy earlier that morning to check on him, he had the nagging feeling that maybe, just maybe, Hammy was watching him.

"I'm sure he's going to be fine." RJ assured them. "Anyways, we should try getting the family together and go over the plans for tomorrow so that we don't have to rush it for tomorrow." He recommended.

"Alright, we'll tell the others." Stella got the idea.

"I'll go talk with Heather and Ozzie. Just want to go over a few things with them." RJ volunteered.

"Okay, sure." Verne said. "Are you going to tell Hammy?" He asked wondering if RJ would wake Hammy up to inform him of the meeting.

"Should I?" RJ asked Verne, as if he were asking permission for him to do so.

…

"Yeah." Verne nodded. "Yeah, you should wake him up and tell him as well." He had his reservations about letting RJ be the one to inform Hammy, but part of him thought it would be best if he did, a sign that things were as normal as they ever were.

"Okay then." RJ nodded.

"Well, we'll see you later then." Stella spoke up after letting the two have their little talk.

"Okay then." RJ waved back as he started on his way to the log. Verna and Stella waved back until RJ was out of view.

"What do you think is going to happen?" Verne asked Stella, feeling a little unsure at what may happen when RJ and Hammy meet.

"I don't know." Stella responded. "I honestly don't know."

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"I wonder what we have here?" Ozzie asked himself, rustling through the different packages of food in the log. He tossed aside some bags of chips, bars of chocolate candy, and cans of snack foods, trying to find something he liked.

"Watch where you're throwing those, Dad!" Heather dodged an incoming can of potato sticks that her father had flung to the side.

"Sorry, Heather." Ozzie apologized to his daughter, however still digging through the stock of food, hoping that maybe he could find himself a bag of trail mix or some kind of fruit or nut combination. Then again, Hammy usually ate those up before anyone else. However… "Jackpot!" Ozzie was lucky once in a while.

"Oh, Dad." Heather just rolled her eyes, seeing her father pull out a bag, the words "TRAIL MIX! NOW WITH MORE FRUIT!" written across the plastic bag. She was munching on a candy bar, chewing happily on the chocolate covered caramel and nougat bar.

She cracked a smile, feeling an odd sense of happiness and appreciation in just knowing that he was her father, as weird as he was.

"Hello?" A voice called into the log from outside.

"RJ?" Heather recognized the voice and headed outside. As she walked out, she came to face with him.

"Oh, hey Heather." RJ smiled to her, albeit a little uneasily.

"Hi, RJ." Heather replied shyly, a little uneasy given the events of last night.

"Good morning, RJ." Out stepped Ozzie, his face a cross between a smirk and frown, making it very difficult for RJ to determine whether of not he should leave or try to play nice, absolutely sure that Heather had told her father the events of last night.

"Hey there, Ozzie." RJ decided to try and play nice. "How have you been?" He smiled as widely as possible to try to appease Ozzie.

"I've been better." Ozzie stared back at him. RJ swore that he could see daggers, no swords, no… whatever were in Ozzie's eyes, they would make him suffer in the most horrific way possible if they were real.

"DAD!" Heather, sensing the growing tension between her father and RJ, elbowed her father, causing him to keel over in pain. "Sorry about that." Heather apologized for her father's rude behavior.

"It's okay." RJ sighed in relief. "I understand." He moved to Ozzie and helped him up. "Your father has every right to be angry." RJ stared eye to eye with Ozzie before turning away.

"It's okay, RJ." Heather placed her hand on his arm, looking up to him, reassuring him that she was okay with what had happened. "I'm doing okay." She turned to her father. "Dad, apologize to RJ!" She demanded.

"Well," Ozzie resisted, growling low in his throat. It took one more glare from Heather to convince him. "Alright." Ozzie sighed, walking up to RJ and, with a heavy sigh and under the stern gaze of his daughter, extended his hand out. "I'm sorry." He asked for forgiveness. RJ, with a much easier smile, took his hand and gave him a firm handshake. Ozzie couldn't help but crack a smile of his own, especially hearing the relieved sigh of Heather next to him.

"So what are you doing here at the log?" She asked RJ for his reason being there.

"Oh." RJ remembered the original reason why he came there. "I came to tell you that everyone will be meeting later on at my place so that we can discuss our plans for the Johansen raid tomorrow night." RJ informed them.

"Okay then." Ozzie nodded to him as a show of respect. "We'll be there."

"Thanks." RJ nodded as well, returning the same respect to Ozzie.

"Was there anything else you needed to tell us?" Heather asked.

"Uh, not really." RJ admitted. "Actually, I was wondering if you had seen Hammy." RJ told them. "Verne and Stella said that he might still be here sleeping."

"He wasn't here when we got here." Ozzie informed him. "But I think he might be with Penny and Lou." He tried his best to remember.

"Oh, okay." RJ noted. "Thanks for telling me."

"You're going to talk to him, huh?" Ozzie asked him. RJ sighed.

"Yeah." RJ replied simply, lowering his head.

"So what are you going to talk to him about?" Heather wondered.

"Just some things." RJ replied. "I honestly don't know what's going to happen." RJ admitted to her.

"Just tell him the truth." Heather smiled to him. "I'm sure that is what he wants to hear from you right now." She added.

"Heather!" RJ's eyes widened, surprised at her words. Ozzie also looked to his daughter with a shocked look on his face.

"Dad, you're not the only one who knows how to read people." Heather grinned to her father. "You taught me how to, after all." She added before turning back to RJ. "You better go on and find him." She said before giving RJ a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you, Heather." RJ pulled Heather into a quick hug. Breaking it, he nodded to Ozzie, with him returning as well, and ran off to Lou and Penny's place.

"You think things will work out?" Heather asked her father as she moved back into him, seeking comfort within his arms.

"Yeah, I think everything may just work out." Ozzie replied. "You okay?" He asked, wondering how she was feeling after meeting RJ.

"Yeah, Dad." She smiled back at him, genuinely. "I'm just great." She assured him that nothing was bothering her.

"I'm slowly getting this whole love thing." She added, happily. Ozzie sighed with relief, holding her daughter tight, content that she was okay, and maybe, in a little way, he was happy that he could still hold onto his little girl for a little longer.

"I wonder if I'll meet anyone else anytime soon." Heather spoke out, a small grin crossing her face, figuring what must be going through her father's mind.

"Oy." Ozzie groaned, dreading the thought, hearing Heather giggle lightly after his little reaction. "For now, at least." He reminded himself. "For now."

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If you have any advice or suggestions, please feel free to review me. All flames will be ignored.

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	14. Awakening

**Spring Showers**

Chapter Fourteen: Awakening

"Damn!" RJ exclaimed, angry at himself, walking alongside of the hedge. When he got to Lou and Penny, he had learned that Hammy had just left, the squirrel leaving to do whatever work he did in the forest area, most likely taking care of his store of nuts. To try and find him now in all the shrubbery was a daunting task and RJ was slowly loosing his spirit, not to mention his energy, to find him, thinking of opting to wait for him to come back to the rest of the family.

However, he was motivated, by some unknown force, to continue searching for Hammy, as futile as it may be. So he set off to find him.

"Hammy!" RJ called out to him, holding out the hope that Hammy would hear him and respond, as unlikely as it was. He had already traveled some distance away from the log, having walked for more than two, maybe three hours. He looked up and noted the position of the sun. It was already late in the afternoon. "Maybe." He considered an idea.

He decided to make his way from the hedge and into the forest area, wanting to take a chance and somehow, unlikely as it seemed, to see if he could find one of Hammy's nut hiding places. Maybe, just maybe he might be able to find him.

"Hammy!" He called out again. He looked around the area, hoping to see if he could find some sign of Hammy. A flattened path of grass, open holes in the ground, pieces of nut scattered on the floor, any sign to show that Hammy was nearby.

"Yes!" RJ rushed over to an exposed pile of dirt adjacent to a hole dug deeply into the ground next to a bush. He examined it carefully, checking for any sign of activity. He picked up a piece of the brown shell of an acorn, noting the marks gouged into the shell piece. And he could feel on the shell something wet...

"He was just here!" RJ realized. "He must be somewhere nearby!" He told himself. He was about to leave the hole until an idea entered his thought. He turned back to the hole and dug down a little further. He wasn't totally surprised when he found another acorn in the ground, but he still felt a sense of relief finding one.

"Where are you, Hammy?" With the acorn under his arm, he looked around the area once more, hoping to find another sign of Hammy, but no luck. Still, he decided to keep on moving, walking in another direction. He really didn't know why he was headed in this particular direction; he just had a feeling, an instinct, if you could call it that, something that told him to head that direction.

"Hammy, here I come." RJ was determined to find him. Within himself, he complied with whatever force was driving him to find Hammy, trusting that it would not guide him wrong, that he will find him.

He could care less what force it was. He just wanted Hammy.

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"This feels nice." Hammy cooed, just basking in the warm glow of the sun above him and relishing the warmth that surrounded him.

"You like that, don't you?" RJ chuckled, rubbing his fingers gently over Hammy's sensitive sides.

"RJ, that tickles." Hammy feebly fought back, rather enjoying the feeling of RJ's fingers moving all over his body. "Don't stop." Hammy gasped out.

"And what if I do?" RJ asked playfully.

"Then I'll do this." Hammy reached his hand out to RJ, grasping RJ and pulling him down to meet him.

"Oh." RJ gasped, opening his mouth and taking Hammy's mouth into his own.

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"Mmph… Ummph…" Hammy moaned softly, turning and twisting on the fallen branch he was asleep on, moving as he really would in his dream. RJ had to move quickly to catch Hammy, to keep him from falling off of it. As he landed against RJ, he brought himself out of his dream.

"Hey Hammy." RJ smiled as he watched Hammy open his eyes and stir from his slumber. The little guy looked like he really was enjoying himself, a big smile on his face and soft giggles coming from him evidence of that.

"Yeah, RJ?" Hammy blinked, looking a little confused for some reason. He was almost sure that RJ was just beneath him, his hands still around him, instead of holding him up, like was doing now.

But who cared? He surely didn't. It was his dream, so almost anything can happen. And most of all, he was with RJ. That was all that really mattered to him in his dreams. To hell with the world. Damn everything else. Just to be with him, to be with RJ. That was all he really wanted.

"You enjoy your sleep, Hammy?" RJ looked to him quizzically, wondering why Hammy seemed to be acting so differently now than he had been the past few days.

"Yeah, RJ, I did." Hammy replied dreamily, giggling ever so slightly. "Where did you go?" He asked, wondering why everything was so different coming out of his supposed nap.

"I had to take care of something." RJ helped Hammy back onto the fallen branch before he looked away from him, rolling the acorn he carried with him in his hands. Then he remembered why he had brought the acorn with him in the first place. "Oh, hey Hammy, this is for you." He handed the acorn to Hammy, who smiled widely, noting the odd, somewhat lost look in Hammy's eyes.

"Thanks, RJ." Hammy giggled coyly, surprising RJ, who couldn't help but chuckle himself. He watched as Hammy admired the acorn in his hands, moving his hands gently over it, coddling as if it were some precious treasure.

"Go on, eat it already." RJ chuckled. Hammy seemed to snap out of his examination of the acorn, noting RJ's words. He smiled and, opening his mouth, he bit down on the acorn.

CRACK! went the outer shell of the acorn, shattering into pieces, leaving only the meat of the nut in his hands.

"How does it taste?" RJ asked, watching Hammy stuff a piece of the meat into his mouth.

"Tastes great!" Hammy smiled lopsidedly, one of his cheeks swollen, filled with the meat of the nut he was trying to chew into pieces. RJ nearly collapsed to the ground, laughing his head off at the comical sight before him.

"That's good." RJ chuckled, trying to work out the rest of his laughter slowly. "That's good." RJ repeated, sighing, just admiring the look on Hammy's face, one of pure happiness and contentment. Did that nut really do all that? He wondered.

"So RJ, what did you do?" Hammy brought up the topic once more of RJ's actions while he slept.

"I had a talk with Heather." RJ started to explain. "Last night, she told me about her feelings for me." He admitted to Hammy. "She even kissed me."

"Huh?" Hammy stopped mid-chew, surprised to hear RJ bringing up Heather, of all of the places in his dream, most of all talking about a romantic encounter with said opossum. "What are you talking about?" Hammy gulped down the rest of the nut in his mouth, wanting to hear RJ clearly, beginning to fret over the news that was now settling into his mind.

"But I had told her that I wasn't attracted to her." RJ felt a bit of remorse for turning Heather down, but felt some sort of assurance, knowing that she harbored no hard feelings against him.

Or against the emotions that he was experiencing now with Hammy.

"Really?" Hammy was now more curious than upset at RJ's admission.

"Yeah." RJ turned back to Hammy, slowly curling his mouth into a smile.

"Why?" Hammy asked, watching as RJ moved up to him, settling himself next to him on the fallen branch. RJ continued to smile gently at Hammy. Hammy couldn't help but smile back to him, the feeling of happiness creeping up again, slowly figuring out RJ smile to him, his answer to his question. "Because of me?" He asked, sighing ever so lightly at the romantic thought.

"Hey Hammy?" RJ asked, moving closer to him, placing his hand on his.

"Yeah?" Hammy replied softly, his face suddenly feeling warmer than usual. His heart began to race as soon as RJ took his hand and held it firmly. "Yeah, RJ?"

"Hammy, can you answer something for me?" RJ asked gently, a small smile curling on his face.

"Yeah." Hammy felt a little giddy, the closeness to RJ making him feel shyer and much more reserved. He took a chance and placed his other hand on RJ's free hand, testing to see how RJ would react to the intimate action. His heart leapt as RJ not only readily took his hand gently into his, but brought together both of their hands, RJ now cupping Hammy's hands within his own. "Yeah, RJ?" Hammy asked dreamily.

"Do you really think the stripes on my face make me look mysterious?" RJ leaned closer to Hammy, the distance between them barely a breath away. Hammy felt a shiver run down his spine, RJ's words dancing in his head, and his breath, the warm air that escaped from his lips, seeming to add to the heat that seemed to be spreading through his body following the shiver.

"Y… Yeah." Hammy barely breathed out, nodding as if to affirm his answer if RJ could not hear his soft response.

"And handsome?" RJ added, bridging the remaining distance between them, the tips of their noses touching, feeling each other's breaths, now hot with fervent energy.

"Yes." Hammy answered before, closing his eyes and tilting his head ever so slightly, he pressed forward and captured RJ's lips with his. He gently slipped his lips over his for the few seconds of the kiss, tasting RJ's lips, relishing the feeling. He pulled back a little and opened his eyes, catching RJ opening his eyes after him.

They looked to each other for a second, reading what was in the other's eyes to see what the other wanted to happen next. RJ's azure eyes to Hammy's emerald eyes, they reflected only the shared desire to feel and to express more to the other.

They had to have one another.

RJ took the initiative this time, pushing forward, pressing his lips on Hammy's gently with enough force to open Hammy's mouth and take a taste. Hammy swooned, feeling in the kiss the desire RJ had for him. He opened his mouth, allowing RJ entrance into his mouth, and RJ, grateful for the admission, tasted Hammy all he could. Hammy squeaked, feeling himself weakening, surrendering to RJ's advances.

RJ let go of Hammy's hands and wrapped his around Hammy's small, lithe body, pulling his closer to him, deepening their kiss. Hammy hesitated for only a second before he opened his hands and placed them on RJ's chest. Feeling RJ's hands stroke his back gently, massaging from his neck down to the small of his back, running his hands over the curves of his body, Hammy felt obligated to do the same for him. Hammy cooed, enjoying the feeling of his fingers running through RJ's soft white fur, pressing against the toned muscle beneath, rousing in him deeper, more passionate feelings.

"RJ." Hammy pulled away, desperately trying to catch his breath quickly in order to resume kissing RJ once more. Hammy kept his hands on RJ's chest, feeling his lover's chest rise and fall, also quickly trying to restore his oxygen to his body, wanting so much to continue where they left off. "Oh." Hammy moaned, feeling RJ move him down against the fallen branch they sat upon, helping him onto his back, RJ shifting his position until he towered over the squirrel.

Hammy slipped his hands over RJ's chest once more, moving his hands up and around his neck. After one more quick breath, Hammy pulled RJ down for another intense kiss. RJ wasted no time with niceties, pressing further and deeper into the kiss, growling and grunting deep in his throat, his paws just feeling every inch of Hammy's body with abandon. Hammy held on to dear life, clutching onto RJ's neck, letting RJ dominate over him, responding only in moans and groans.

Never in his wildest dreams did Hammy ever have such a vivid and passionate lovemaking session with RJ. The heat of their passion felt so real, as if every kiss was burned right into their souls. Before, Hammy felt that such pleasure was impossible to ever experience. But just the simple kiss they shared now surpassed any expectation he ever had. He never wanted to wake up. He was in heaven.

Unfortunately, he was just about to fall from there. Literally.

"OOMPH!" All the frantic movement that they were doing on the fallen branch was enough to throw off their balance and send them tumbling down to the hard ground below. Before they could realize it, the pair landed hard on the ground, forcing the air out their lungs, and breaking their kiss.

"Ouch." Hammy grunted as he picked himself off of the ground, the surprise fall from the log enough to break him from the trance he was in. He looked to his side and saw RJ panting hard, as if trying to regain lost breath.

Suddenly, it hit him.

"Oh no… oh no… no… no, this can't be happening." Hammy started to breathe very rapidly. Not due to loss of breath, but rather, he was hyperventilating. He was anxious and afraid. In his mind, he tried to make sense of what was a dream and what was reality. But he was sure that it was real. Everything from the hand holding and the hugs, all the way up to the burning hot kisses they exchanged.

And the tingling pain in his arm. The PAIN in his arm. This was no dream.

"RJ, I'm sorry." Hammy apologized, his voice cracking. "I didn't know. I wasn't thinking. I thought that it was just my imagination, just a silly, stupid dream that I didn't mean to have." He rushed his apology. Despite how dizzy Hammy felt, he felt the need to get away as fast as possible. He had to get away, afraid of the wrath that RJ may unleash upon him now, now that he had forced upon the raccoon the full extent of his desires on him.

"Hammy!" RJ leapt on him. Being too disoriented to dodge, Hammy felt his body fall back, feeling RJ's weight press down upon him as the raccoon pinned him down to the ground, preventing his escape.

"No, I'm sorry!" Hammy blurted out, hot tears now tracing down his face, burning trails down his cheeks. "Don't hurt me, please." He begged, sniffling hard and shaking. He could only hope that RJ's first strike would knock him out, to spare him the pain of being savagely beaten while staying conscious. "RJ, don't hate me." Hammy squeaked, folding his arms over his face, getting ready to defend himself from the blows.

RJ slipped his arms around his wrists and pulled them away from his head. Hammy squinted his eyes shut, not wanting to see what RJ was to do. He gritted his teeth, his eyes burned, and his tears continued to trickle down his face. It was over, he knew it.

"Hammy!" RJ shook him, trying to shake some sense back into the weeping squirrel. "Hammy!" RJ raised his voice, hoping that it would get Hammy to obey him and listen to him. It was no use. The squirrel was too far gone, too convinced that he was to suffer horribly. RJ could only think of one thing to bring the squirrel back.

Hammy tried to fight RJ from turning his head up, to face him. He feared that RJ would torture him, forcing him see himself getting beaten into a pulp. He braced himself.

"Hammy." RJ whispered to him softly before making his move.

"Ummph." Hammy fought back. "Hmmph?" Hammy couldn't figure it out. He expected to be slashed and stomped on. He expected to be shown no mercy. He expected to be dead by the next time he opened his eyes.

But why was he now seeing RJ kissing him? How come he could feel his lips pressed against his, sucking gently and licking his lips ever so tenderly?

Hammy opened his mouth to protest, but it only served as a moment to let RJ invade his mouth and deepen the kiss. Hammy couldn't help himself and moaned ever so softly. RJ pressed deeper into the kiss, lavishing all the attention on the squirrel, moving his hands ever so meaningfully, stroking his chest and neck, massaging him until he could feel Hammy's tension let up a little. Once he felt Hammy was calm enough to talk to, he pulled back, licking Hammy's lips with his tongue once more before retreating it back into his mouth.

"Hammy." RJ spoke softly, seeing Hammy watch him with a look of confusion on his face. He smiled and hugged him gently. Moving his lips over to Hammy's ear, he whispered softly. "How can I hate you, Hammy?" He asked before pulling back to look Hammy square in the eye.

"I love you." RJ nuzzled him. "I love you more than you can imagine." RJ wiped the tears at Hammy's eyes, a smile widening on his face, an action that seemed to put Hammy at ease.

Still, Hammy was cautious, unsure of what to do. He sniffed, clearing his nose, and continued to stare at RJ. Still shaking, Hammy carefully moved his arms up and around RJ's neck, holding them there loosely, just in case he had to pull back for any surprises. RJ only pulled Hammy closer, moving his hands to his back, and now running his hands down his sides and hips and into the small of his back, feeling the curves of his body, just as he remembered RJ doing only moments ago in what he thought was a dream.

"Is this real?" Hammy pulled him into a hug, moving his head under RJ's chin, resting under his muzzle. He was surprised when he felt something press against the top of his head, eventually realizing that RJ had just given him a kiss on his head. Hammy pulled back and looked to RJ, this time more seriously. "Is this still a dream? Am I still imagining things?" Hammy asked him, scanning RJ's face for a reaction. "Is this real?" He asked once more. RJ pressed up against him and opened his mouth.

"As real as you want it to be, Hammy." And with that, RJ closed his eyes and gave Hammy's muzzle a soft lick and a gentle kiss on his lips once more.

When RJ opened his eyes, he looked to see a still rather surprised squirrel: A rather happily surprised squirrel. Hammy shook his head slowly, a smile slowly growing on his lips.

"It's real?" Hammy mouthed his words over and over, the tone of his voice growing, but still low, still finding the truth a little difficult to believe.

"Yeah." RJ replied softly, his own smile growing larger. With every deepening breath he took, he seemed to feel lighter, as if some massive weight that was once crushing him now seemed to be as light as a feather. He felt freer, liberated, alive, these feelings that he had for Hammy bringing him to a new high, a sort of exhilaration and excitement rushing through him. It felt great! And all because Hammy looked to him now with his shining, emerald eyes, reflecting a joy and vivacity he had never seen in the squirrel before.

"I love you Hammy." RJ sighed, feeling something he thought he had felt before, but only now seemed to feel the full breadth of:

True Love.

"I love you RJ." Hammy laughed. "I… I never thought… I… you…" Hammy tried to say between bursts of laughter. "You really… that means…" Hammy's mind was trying to process everything new that he was realizing, confused at the sudden revelation. But one thing was constant. He couldn't help feeling happier and more excited with every passing second. He placed his hands on RJ's chest, feeling the soft fur between his fingers, moving up to his face, tracing the stripes that had constantly caught his eye for so long. He cupped his hand over RJ's cheek and just gazed at him, just admiring how handsome RJ was.

"You look so cute, you know that, Hammy?" Hammy was pleasantly surprised as RJ's hand moved over his face, exploring just as he was. He moved his fingers over Hammy's head, feeling the softer, silky fur. He had to admit, all the nuts that Hammy ate really helped him maintain such a lovely coat. He chuckled to himself as a thought came to his mind. Seeing Hammy's orange fur, he had always wondered, in the back of his mind, what it tasted like. And now, given a chance…

"RJ." Hammy chirred, feeling RJ's tongue lick his cheek, just where the white fur melted into the orange. "That tickles." He pushed RJ back slightly until they were facing each other once again. Hammy wasted no time and pressed forward into a kiss with RJ.

"I love you RJ." He whispered just before their lips met and were once more taken to discover new heights of love and tenderness.

"I love you Hammy."

"I love you RJ."

Over and over, they said to one another wordlessly, their kisses saying more about their love for one another than any mere words could ever say.

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"RJ?" Hammy asked as he lay on his chest, playing with his silvery-white fur, breathing deep his scent all around him.

"Yeah, Hammy?" RJ replied, playing with Hammy's tail with one hand, his other resting in the small of his back.

"What made you change your mind?" He asked.

"Hmm?" RJ stopped playing his Hammy's tail and brought it around to rest on Hammy's neck. "You." Hammy replied.

"Huh?" This time, Hammy stopped playing and turned up to face RJ. Feeling Hammy shifting on his chest, RJ looked down to meet with Hammy's gaze.

"You told me before that you believed that I would never have these feelings for you, right?" RJ asked.

"Yeah." Hammy regretted saying those words somewhat, but wondered what they had to do with how they ended up together now.

"Well, seeing you beating yourself up, I felt so guilty for causing you to go through it needlessly and not doing anything to help you." RJ admitted. "When you started shaking in my arms that day we found you soaking wet from the storm the night before, I feared what might have happened if you didn't get better."

"I'm here now, RJ." Hammy reassured him, a response that brought a smile and kiss from RJ.

"If you died…" RJ started. "I couldn't imagine if you died. I didn't want to. Just the thought of you going away forever scared me like never before. I was scared because there was nothing I could do to stop it from happening, or even delay it." RJ held Hammy close, tears forming in his eyes. "I could talk my way in and out of anything and pull as many tricks I can, but I wouldn't be able to do anything to save you."

"You did save me." Hammy said, moving his hand to RJ's eyes and wiping away the tears that began to form.

"It was then that I realized that I cared for you deeply, that you mean so much to me." RJ said. "But it took having that talk with you and that kiss from Heather to make me realize how much you really meant to me." RJ hugged Hammy tight.

"How much?" Hammy looked to him with loving eyes.

"Everything." RJ replied. "You mean everything to me." RJ kissed Hammy to reaffirm his statement. "I want to protect you, I want to be with you, I want to hold you, I want to be the one to tell you 'I love you' every second of every minute of every hour of every day. I want to be yours."

"I love you too, RJ." Hammy swelled up with pride at RJ's words, the moment special to him since RJ was so very rarely sentimental about anything. And now here he was, pouring out his heart and soul to him.

"I promise I'll never let you go through what you went through. Never again." RJ told him firmly. "I'm so sorry for all the wrong I have ever done to you, for all the pain I caused you, for all the things I failed to do for you." RJ apologized profusely, looking to Hammy for forgiveness.

"I forgive you RJ." Hammy kissed him gently and purred softly.

"I never want to see you get hurt like that again." His voiced softened. "You are sweet, caring, compassionate, honest, vivacious, slightly crazy…" Hammy laughed at the last one. "… and loving." RJ added. "You do not deserve to suffer like that."

"It's okay. I'm alright." Hammy told him.

"No, it's not." RJ retorted. "You deserve the best. You deserve to be happy. You deserve to be loved by the one you love." RJ said. "And if you want me still…" RJ looked to Hammy. "I know that I am not the best person in the world, that there are many things about me that I am not proud of, things that would probably disgust you." RJ admitted. "But I want to be the one you love, as broken and flawed as I am." RJ looked to him with sad eyes. Hammy smiled and once more kissed him.

"Even if there were a million other raccoons and I had to pick a million times who to love…" Hammy pulled himself up and looked to RJ straight into his eyes. "I would pick you and you alone a million, no, a million and one times." Hammy smiled and cuddled up to him. "I love you and I always will, RJ, no matter how you are."

"Thank you, Hammy." RJ felt so happy to hear those words. He found complete acceptance in the heart of this young squirrel in his arms. And to think, he was ready to just ignore him and cast away these feelings. That would have truly been the greatest mistake of his life.

But instead, this was the greatest moment in his entire life. And it would be Hammy's following words that he would keep in his heart and etch into his soul, to remind him how precious he really is.

"You see yourself as broken and flawed." Hammy looked into RJ's eyes, so full of love and honesty. "In my eyes, I see you as absolutely perfect."

"I love you so much, Hammy." RJ held him close, sniffling, this time close to crying tears of joy. "Now that I have you, I never want to let you go." RJ whispered to him. "Ever."

"And I'll never let you." Hammy smiled. RJ pulled back, staring back at him with a serious look. All before cracking a smile and breaking out into a loud and hearty laugh.

It was the best laugh that they had ever shared, the best that they ever had.

Once the laughter died down, they looked to each other once more. RJ took Hammy's hand into his and kissed it. Hammy giggled and leaned up to RJ, placing his lips on his. As they wrapped their hands around one another into a warm, comfortable hug, pressing each other deeper into the kiss, they finally realized that they would never have to feel lonely again.

In the most unexpected ways, they had found one another. Though it was not exactly how they expected things would be, somehow it seemed to all work out. For all the drama that they had gone through in the last week, this was their closure, their happy ending.

And as the new couple lay together, bodies entwined and hands exploring one another, holding one another tight as if to bind together their very souls, exchanging loving kisses, so pure and honest, their language of understanding and acceptance, they could think of nothing else except for their newfound love for one another.

This was their new beginning, now that they had found one another, now that they had finally found true love.

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"RJ?" Hammy perked up, cuddling up close to him, his ear to his chest, listening to every beat of his heart.

"Yeah, Hammy?" He cradled the small, soft ball of fur that meant everything in the world to him.

"So when do we tell the family the good news?" Hammy asked. He didn't exactly get the answer he was expecting.

RJ's heart skipped a beat.

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If you have any advice or suggestions, please feel free to review me. All flames will be ignored.

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	15. New Resolutions

**Spring Showers**

Chapter Fifteen: New Resolutions

"So Tiger, what do you want to do tomorrow after the raid?" Stella asked, relaxing on Tiger's back as he walked through the small forest area they called home.

"I do not have much planned for us tomorrow night." Tiger replied.

"So it's going to be another boring night, huh?" Stella sighed, turning over on his back, reaching her hand out to tease his ears.

"You mean the romantic dinners we have are boring?" Tiger turned his head, mock frowning at her comment.

"You know I didn't mean that!" Stella playfully swatted his head, giggling. "I love our dinners together, Tigerius." Stella pulled herself up, wrapping her hands around his neck and nuzzling the top of his head.

"Thank you, Stella." Tiger purred softly. He could always tell when Stella was in an affectionate mood when she calls him by his real name. As he strode back to the log, he noted in the distance a green reptile impatiently pacing back and forth, arms crossed in front of him, hearing a slight growl emanating.

"Where in the world is RJ?" Verne sighed, exasperated, as he looked up into the sky. It was already late in the afternoon, the sun already dipping into the horizon and the silver moon hanging above, ready to take over the sky in the wake of its brother.

"Hey Verne." Stella looked up from above Tiger's head, greeting him. Tiger bowed slightly in a show of respect to the turtle. "What in the world are you doing?" She asked, wondering why he was just walking back and forth for no apparent reason.

"Hello Tiger, Stella." Verne nodded to them as they made their way up to him, before returning to his tedious walk. Stella could tell he had been at it for a while, noting the grass had been utterly trampled to death under his feet. "I'm waiting for Hammy to get back here." He replied.

"Why are you waiting for him?" Tiget pressed him for an answer.

"He's not here." Verne answered, confusing both the feline and skunk.

"So, he's probably just taking care of his nuts." Stella hopped off of Tiger's back and approached Verne.

"I don't think so." Verne stopped in his tracks, staring back at Stella with a steely gaze. "I know RJ's involved with this. I know he's the reason why we haven't seen Hammy all day." Verne started to growl low in his throat.

"Well, you did ALLOW him to tell Hammy what we were going to do for the night." She pointed out. "Besides, since Hammy isn't here, I think it's safe to assume RJ went off to look for him." Stella proposed.

"Before or after the fight?" Verne replied with a louder growl, skeptical that things went well with the two of them. Even if his tail had fallen off, he probably would have still felt the near unbearably painful tingling. He didn't know if it was an omen or if it was just a product of his worry. "I should have been the one to tell Hammy." Verne started to regret letting RJ go and talk to Hammy in the first place.

"Then, if anything, one of them should be on the way here at least." Tiger walked into their conversation, giving his input on the situation.

"If it's RJ, and Hammy's not with him," Verne growled. "I am going to give him a piece of my mind and kick his…"

"Verne, stop." Tiger interrupted him. "RJ is still family and I will not allow you to resort to physical violence to solve any of this." Tiger growled, deeper than anything Verne could ever muster. Though Tiger could out-growl him, he could never hope to match one thing Verne had over him:

His stubbornness.

"Let's just find them." Verne turned away from them, still set on his decision. Stella and Tiger could only shake their heads as they followed him making his way into the forest. They too wanted to find RJ or Hammy before Verne did. They wanted to, if only to make sure that Verne didn't do anything rash and make things worse.

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"RJ?" Hammy asked, walking alongside of him, holding his hand tight. They had waited until after watching the sun set below the horizon before they decided to make their way back home.

"Yeah, Hammy?" RJ looked to him with a big smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye. Hammy squeezed his hand gently, feeling a little overcome with the romantic emotions that he felt for the raccoon.

He had to admit, it was really romantic of RJ to want to watch the sunset with him, holding him tight and cuddling with him. Hammy was still not really used to RJ acting the way he had been over the past few hours. But Hammy liked to think he brought out something good out of RJ. It was a good change for the raccoon.

"Hey, wake up Hammy." RJ gave him a peck on his cheek, waking him up from dream-like state, just gazing at him. He chuckled at Hammy, seeing him shake his head, returning to his senses, and smiling back up to him. "Were you going to ask me something?" He asked sweetly.

"Uh, yeah." Hammy nodded, remembering what he was going to ask him. He felt a little embarrassed about the question, but he felt that RJ would know the answer and help comfort his uneasy feelings. "When do you think we should tell the family?"

Hammy looked away, hearing no answer from RJ. He felt even worse when he felt RJ let go of his hand. He turned up his head, to apologize for the stupid question. His feelings of shame, however, immediately evaporated when he felt RJ's lips on his.

"Catch me if you can." RJ whispered to Hammy as he parted from the quick kiss, dashing away immediately afterwards, wanting to play a game of catch with Hammy.

"RJ!" Hammy laughed and immediately gave chase to the raccoon, the question slipping from his mind once more.

However, the question still weighed heavily on RJ's mind. He wanted to play this little game, if only to give him a little time to think about the answer. Everything was so perfect, just him and Hammy. Those few moments where there was nothing but the two of them, expressing their newfound love for one another… how he wished it was still just the two f them.

However, the issue of telling the family, of revealing their feelings for one another to everyone else, only seemed to complicate things. He wondered how they would react, what they would think about him being with Hammy now. Considering all that he had put Hammy through, would they really trust his feelings for him? Would they think that it was a deception?

And the reality of the nature of their relationship only brought more doubt into his thoughts. Though he had never seen it himself, he had a feeling that not many people looked upon a relationship between two males with much support. He started to wonder if these were the same reasons that caused Hammy to hold back expressing his feelings for him in the first place. He felt slower, feeling a weight pressing down on him once more.

"GOTCHA!" Hammy leapt up and landed on RJ's back, wrapping his arms around his neck, burying his face into the soft fur on the top of RJ's head. "That was fun RJ." Hammy spoke softly right into RJ's ear. "I love you." Hammy kissed the top of his head before burying his face into his fur once more.

"I love you."

RJ smiled. Just hearing those words took the weight off of his mind and he could think clearly. He had another epiphany, just like the one he had when he finally realized his feelings for Hammy, and the answers to his questions, his problems, just came rushing into his mind.

"Oh Hammy." RJ sighed happily, feeling the little squirrel clutching him tight, tight enough to ensure he wouldn't let go of him, but loose enough not to choke and burden him. "Want a piggyback ride home?" He asked.

"I'd like that." Hammy replied happily. RJ took Hammy's legs under his arms, securing him so he wouldn't accidentally fall off while riding him. "Ready?" He asked.

"Ready up here, captain!" Hammy replied jokingly.

"Here we go!" RJ launched into a brisk run.

"WHEEEEE!" Hammy laughed his heart out, enjoying the ride RJ was giving him, the little treat from him.

RJ had no worries about tiring out anytime soon. He felt as light as a feather, the only weight that he felt now was the weight of his world on his shoulders. And he would happily carry him on his shoulders.

After all, to him, Hammy was his world.

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"HAMMY!" Verne shouted angrily, wanting to find Hammy. Though he had no intentions of hurting the squirrel, he was still too overcome with anger for RJ to exactly control his emotions, to keep them from escaping in some way. "WHERE ARE YOU,, HAMMY!?" Verne growled angrily once more.

"Verne, stop that at once!" Tiger raised his voice, quieting the irate turtle.

"Yeah, you're going to scare the poor kid trying to find him that way!" Stella berated him for his attempt to try and find Hammy. "So reign in those feelings now before I have to do something about it!" Stella threatened him. Though she had no idea how she would carry out such a threat, she knew she had to do something.

"I just, I just…" Verne tried to explain why he was feeling so angry right at that moment. But he found it hard to come up with a logical reason for his wrath. He took a deep breath and sighed, looking back up to Stella. "I'm… I'm sorry." He apologized.

"Good." Stella and Tiger breathed a sigh of relief, happy that they had stemmed a potential disaster from happening.

"I just don't want to see Hammy hurt again." Verne explained, thinking about those times seeing Hammy looking so helpless and pathetic. He didn't want to find him like that again, especially if he was the one who may have inadvertently caused him to be that way when they find him.

"Calm down then." Stella replied, much more calmly now.

"It will do you no good to scare him off, especially if he is hurt already." Tiger reminded him. "You wouldn't want to cause him anymore harm, no would you?"

"No, no, I don't want to do that." Verne shook his head. "I just…" He tried to explain before being cut off by…

"HAHAHA! WHEEEEE! HAHAHA!"

Laughter?

The trio immediately turned to the direction of the laughter, a short distance away from them. They dashed after it, moving between the trees and bushes, trying to catch up to the laughter. Just as they were almost on top of the source, right behind a tree in front of them, Stella, ahead of the other two, held her hand out, stopping them.

"Wait!" She commanded them in a hushed voice.

"Why the... Mmph!" Stella stopped Verne with a hand over his mouth, keeping him from speaking anymore. Once sure that Verne wasn't going to say anything anymore, she removed her hand and pointed around the tree. Behind the tree, they held their breath, surprised at what they saw unfolding before them.

"It can't be!"

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"We're almost to the log, Hammy." RJ spoke up to Hammy, still carrying him, still smiling up to him. Hammy looked to him for a second, wondering why RJ would announce that they were almost home. It took him a few seconds to understand why.

"Oh." Hammy nodded slowly, frowning a little. "Okay." Hammy hopped down off of RJ's back and moved away slightly. Before he could even take another step away from RJ, he found himself unable to move away.

"Hey." RJ called back to Hammy, holding onto his hand gently. "Don't leave me behind now." Hammy cracked a smile, letting go of his hand and moving his arms around RJ into a hug.

"So you mean?" Hammy asked, his head pressed against his chest.

"I don't care." RJ replied. Hammy looked up to him, and RJ immediately took him into a kiss. Hammy squeaked happily, his tail whipping back and forth, almost standing on the tips of his claws. Thankfully, he didn't have to strain himself for too long. "I don't care what anyone else will think about us."

"So it's okay?" Hammy asked, clutching onto him tightly, feeling as nervous as RJ probably was. "Do you think they might not like this?"

"That's their problem, not ours." RJ patted his back gently, feeling him shaking a bit in his arms. "I have to admit though, I am also a little nervous about how the others may take to us being a couple."

"Well, we're not really what they would call a normal couple." Hammy pointed out with a small grin.

"And who said you or I were at any point in any way quote-unquote 'normal'?" RJ ruffled the hair on top of Hammy's head, much to the little guy's annoyance, trying to bat his hands away to get him to stop. "I love ya Hammy, you sugar crazed, cookie fiend." RJ brushed his hairs back down, just admiring the absolutely adorable, handsome face that looked up to him now.

"I love you too, RJ." Hammy hopped up to him and hugged him tight, purring happily. "You wily and overconfident idiot." Hammy whispered softly to himself.

"You say something, Hammy?" RJ asked, wondering if he was just heard Hammy say something to him.

"Nothing." Hammy smiled. "Nothing at all." He purred once more, assuring him.

After Hammy hopped back down, he gladly took the hand RJ offered to him, grasping it securely in his hand. He felt a sense of assurance and comfort feeling RJ holding onto him, squeezing his hand just as tightly as he was.

"Come on, we better get to the log." RJ pulled Hammy along, Hammy running alongside with him, easily matching his pace. "We still have to discuss the raid on the Johansen house tomorrow."

"Cool! Can we get some more cookies? I gave my only bag of macadamia nut chocolate chip cookies to the triplets and I really liked those cookies." Hammy told him.

"Sure, Hammy." RJ smiled back to him, delighted to see that Hammy was now back to his old self once more. "We… I'll get you some cookies. I promise you." He gave his word, feeling a little warm and tingly inside. It wasn't all too bad, rather nice really.

"I'm holding you to that." Hammy smiled, knowing that RJ didn't have to make that promise to him.

"I promise." RJ repeated to him.

But it did make him feel special hearing him say it, nonetheless.

"Let's get those cookies then!" Hammy rushed forward, now dragging RJ with him, now screaming at him. "COOKIES AHOY!"

"HAMMY! Slow down!" RJ yelled, sprinting as fast as he could to keep up with the overenthusiastic squirrel.

"I can't break the speed of light like you can!"

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If you have any advice or suggestions, please feel free to review me. All flames will be ignored.

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	16. Acceptance

**Spring Showers**

Chapter Sixteen: Acceptance

"Jeepers, Verne's awfully late, isn't he?" Penny waited alongside the log, Ozzie and Heather waiting alongside her, her husband chasing around their three kids. They had gotten into the caffeine again.

"Spike, slow down there son!" Lou panted, chasing one then another of the triplets, trying to get them to voluntarily slow down. "Bucky! Be careful! Don't run into anyone!" Lou nearly had a heart attack when Bucky nearly ran into Ozzie.

"Geez, did they get into some of RJ's energy drinks again?" Ozzie froze in his place as Quillo surrounded him, running circles around him, laughing like a maniac. As soon as Quillo broke from his orbit around him, Ozzie promptly collapsed.

"I saw my life flash before my eyes!" Ozzie breathed hard.

"Quillo! Bucky! Spike! Slow down or you'll be eating broccoli for the next week!" Penny threatened, having had enough of her children's horseplay.

The triplets froze in their tracks and let out a collective, "MOM!"

"Whoa! Now that's cold!" Heather shivered, just the mere mention of broccoli causing her stomach to feel weak. "You don't really mean that, do you?" She was very sympathetic with the triplets, and the idea of eating broccoli… ugh.

"If they don't stop, then I will make sure that they eat every little stalk." Penny glared to the three. The triplets whimpered at the threat. They took their mother's threat seriously and walked back to the log, plopping down on the grass, trying to control their still hyper and twitching bodies, behaving themselves as best they could.

"Thanks honey." Lou panted, coming to his wife, taking her into his arms for a big hug, thankful for her intervention. "I don't know what I would do without you."

"Your very welcome, Lou, dear." Penny gave him a peck on his cheek.

"You're almost as good of an actor as my Dad." Heather complemented Penny's ability to switch between her moods so seamlessly.

"Who said I was acting?" Penny retorted, somewhat angrily, scaring Heather.

"I'm sorry." Heather smiled widely and easily, hoping to appease the porcupine.

"Oh, stop it already, Penny." Ozzie said, picking himself up and dusting the dirt off of his fur.

"Hehe, sorry." Penny chuckled, offering a hand to Heather to help her up. "Just wanted to have a little fun with you dear."

"O… Okay." Heather nodded, sighing relieved.

"Mom, Dad, do you hear something?" Spike spoke up, hearing something odd coming from a distance.

"What do you mean?" Lou and Penny looked around, turning their heads to try and find any odd noise or sound coming from the distance.

"COOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…"

"What in the world is that?" Ozzie and Heather, now hearing the odd noise that Spike was probably referring to, turned their ears to the apparent source of the sound.

"Maybe an owl that doesn't know when to stop?" Heather speculated, the high pitched sound now growing and becoming annoying.

"Can't be." Lou listened intently as the sound changed somewhat.

"KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"Oh no." Spike, Bucky, and Quillo gasped, realizing what was coming. "JUMP!"

"Wha?" Lou, Penny, Ozzie and Heather looked to the triplets quizzically, wondering why they should…

"COOKIE! COOKIE! COOKIE! COOKIE! COOKIE!"

"HAMM…?"

BOOM! CRASH! SLAM!

"WHOA!" Spike, Bucky, and Quillo watched as their parents, Ozzie, and Heather went flying into the air as an orange and grey blur tossed them up, the whole scene playing out before them as if in slow motion. They had to admit, this was some very cool special effects and stunt work they were doing right in front of their eyes.

"Oh geez!" Ozzie had landed hard on his back, nearly knocking all of the wind out of him. However, he had just about enough breath to do one thing:

Scream his head off.

He was watching in slow motion as he saw an incoming brown, SPIKY, ball headed right for him. If he saw his life flashing before his eyes when the triplets circled around him, now, in those few seconds, he felt as if he was re-living it all over again.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

…

"Are you okay, Dad?" Heather shook her father, trying to get him to uncurl from the fetal position. "It's okay."

"I'm… I'm alive!?" Ozzie cracked his eyes open, not realizing that he had shut them, and looked around him. He immediately sat up and looked over his body. No spines skewered into him, not sign of blood, not even a scratch. "But, but, but I thought I saw Lou coming towards me and I thought that I would be…"

"Nah, I landed short of you." Lou popped up next to Heather, pointing out where he had landed, barely a few inches away from his feet.

"What in the world sent us flying?" Ozzie spoke up, before something caught his, and ultimately everyone else's attention.

"DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN!" RJ yelled angrily, half shaking, half livid, all because of Hammy's stunt, causing them to end up crashing into the rest of the family.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to get back home and get started and maybe get some cookies and…" Hammy babbled on, trying to explain to the furious raccoon his reasons for dragging him through the forest brutally as he nearly broke the time-space continuum.

The rest of the family stood back away from the argument but got ready to interfere if anything happened to Hammy, especially seeing RJ as he was now.

"HAMMY, YOU… YOU…" RJ eased his breathing, closing his eyes and trying to reign in his anger. A few calm breaths, he opened his eyes and immediately, he cursed himself for his rash actions.

"I'm sorry." Hammy said weakly, looking down to the ground, his shoulders limp and his ears flat on his head. RJ sighed, regretting his actions and feeling the need to make it up to Hammy.

"Hey Hammy." RJ pulled the little guy to him, picking up his head to let him look up at him. "I'm sorry for overreacting." He apologized to him. "I didn't mean to scare you and make you feel bad. I'm really sorry." He looked to him thoughtfully, hoping that he would accept his apology. "Just don't do it again, okay?" He chuckled. "I don't want to end up in the future or in some other dimension the next time you do that."

"RJ." Hammy jumped to RJ and hugged him tight, his words muffled by his chest fur. "Thanks, RJ. It won't happen ever again." Hammy turned his face up to him, smiling happily, tail swishing high and swiftly.

Hammy jumped to his toes and gently pressed a quick kiss to RJ's lips.

"WHAT THE…?" The family's jaws dropped and their eyes bugged out upon seeing the young squirrel giving a kiss to the raccoon. But it was nothing compared to what happened next.

RJ happily returned the kiss with gusto, taking Hammy into his arms and deepening the kiss.

…

THUMP!

"Uh oh." Hammy broke the kiss, hearing the family falling to the ground.

"Oh damn." RJ groaned. It was not exactly the way he wanted to break to the family the good news of his relationship with Hammy. "This is not good."

"Well, looks like you guys have heard the good news." Stella spoke out to her family lying on the ground, Tiger following right behind her, lying on his back, a still semi-unconscious Verne, babbling nonsensically, trying to take in all that he had just seen moments ago.

"You mean?" Hammy nearly screamed out.

"RJ!" Verne, locking his eyes on RJ, leapt off of Tiger's back and stomped towards him, growling menacingly at him.

"Verne, I can explain everything!" RJ began stepping backwards, suddenly wishing for Hammy's lightning fast speed.

"WHAT IN THE HECK ARE YOU DOING!?" Verne continued to stomp forward, his eyes full of rage and hatred, seeming to emphasize his intent to wring the neck of the ring-tailed mammal. "HOW DARE YOU EVEN LAY A HAND ON HAMMY AFTER…"

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

"Hammy!" RJ gasped. Hammy stood in front of him, hands outstretched, legs slightly bent, his face scrunched into a scowl, signs of him taking a defensive stance. RJ had to admit he thought that he would be defending Hammy if anything were to happen, not the other way around.

But still, it was rather chivalrous of Hammy to defend him.

"DON'T YOU DARE LAY A HAND ON MY BOYFRIEND!"

THUMP!

"Ugh." Though he now lay on the ground, after collapsing out of sheer embarrassment, he still couldn't help the blush that was now spreading over his face or the weird, warm, tingly feeling he was now feeling inside.

Still, he wished Hammy would have stated his feelings with a subtler choice of words.

"RJ." RJ blinked and saw Hammy looking to him, holding his hand out to him to help him up. Once he was on his feet, Hammy hugged him close, pressing himself as close as he could to RJ.

"He loves me, Verne." RJ wrapped his arms around Hammy and stroked his back.

"Just as much as I love him." Hammy cooed happily, his tail now curling around them.

"What?" Verne stared at them, his rage evaporating in an instant, now left more befuddled than before.

"I think they just told you that they're together." Ozzie walked up next to Verne, placing a hand on the reptile's shell.

"As if the kissing wasn't enough to show you that." Heather pointed out the obvious to him.

"They actually look quite cute together." Penny stated.

"Especially since RJ's still blushing." Lou pointed out. RJ smiled uneasily after realizing that he was.

"So, I take it we shouldn't have to worry about any more emotional breakdowns." Stella walked up to Hammy and patted his head. He opened his mouth to answer her, but RJ spoke up in his place.

"Never." RJ firmly stated and hugged him tight. "I'm never going to let him go through anything like that ever again."

"Since when did you become such a romantic?" Stella asked with a sly grin.

"Don't know." RJ replied. "Hammy just seems to bring out that side of me." He looked down and smiled to him.

"Watching too many of those soap operas, huh?" Tiger assumed.

"You watch quite a few yourself, Tiger." RJ snapped back.

"I just enjoy watching the complex human relationships that those programs explore over the span of a single hour." Tiger defended himself.

"Yeah. As if Jenny's ex-husband's brother's girlfriend and Richard's step-son's best friend's father have any chance of staying together while their families try to find the elusive, cursed opal of the…" RJ explained.

"Alright, alright." Tiger gave up. "Granted, they are a tad farfetched sometimes." Everyone else shot him with raised eyebrows. "But they can be rather romantic." Tiger walked over to Stella and nuzzled her.

"Tiger." Stella giggled.

"If you ever do anything to hurt Hammy ever again…" Verne started in a low voice, warning RJ.

"If I ever do, make sure that I regret it." RJ finished his words. "Hurting Hammy is the last thing I ever want to do. He means so much to me." RJ met Verne eyes with a steady, strong gaze. Verne, somewhat surprised at his response, seeing RJ's sincerity to the commitment he had made with Hammy, somehow felt a little more at ease.

"You know this is going to take a bit of getting used to." Verne stated.

"I'm sure things will be just fine." Heather stepped into the conversation, giving them her opinion. She smiled and gave a little wink to RJ and Hammy.

"Thank you." Hammy mouthed out the words to Heather, grateful for her support.

And, in some way, for RJ.

"Oy." Verne rubbed his head. "Every time I think things will somehow settle down and things will return to normal, something weird happens and we have to learn how to get used to it."

"That's what makes everything fun!" Quillo spoke up.

"It'd get boring if we never had any of the weird stuff happening." Bucky added.

"We're one big, happy, dysfunctional family." Spike concluded.

"Ugh." Verne, though he hated to admit it, he had to agree with the triplets. Somehow though, as odd and mind-boggling as the concept was, he couldn't help but crack a little smile.

Glancing over to RJ and Hammy, somehow he knew, in the back of his mind, that they were going to be alright. It would take getting used to, Hammy no longer under his care, now striking out into new territory, learning and maturing on his own now. Granted, it wasn't exactly what he had imagined for Hammy's future when he had taken him under his care as a child.

But, seeing the happy squirrel in the arms of the one he had fallen in love with, the wily raccoon that they had learned to trust and accept into the family only a year ago, maybe, just maybe, he didn't have to look after him anymore.

"Thank god it's all over with." Verne sighed, feeling somewhat relieved.

"I wonder what's going to happen next!" The triplets happily said in unison.

THUMP!

"Verne!" The family rushed over to the fallen turtle.

"Are you alright?" RJ asked his friend.

"Why can't we just be a little bit more normal?" Verne felt like crying.

"Come on, Verne!" Hammy helped him up, giving him a quick hug, hoping that it would make him feel better. "We should really get started on that raid plan! Maybe we might find something for you for your falling problem!" Hammy encouraged him.

Verne just started cracking up.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Verne just let out all of his stress in one long, jolly laugh. "Okay, okay, Hammy." Verne shook away the rest of his laughter and stood up. "Let's get started on the plans for tomorrow." Verne looked to RJ, who nodded in agreement. Verne sighed.

It was a start to the return to normality.

"Okay, so first, we have to deactivate the security system and sneak in through the basement to access the kitchen, where there may be a dog we'll have to distract and subdue, before we can get to the good stuff inside…"

"Eh, close enough." Verne smiled to himself as RJ explained the plans for tomorrow night's raid. It was normal enough for him.

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If you have any advice or suggestions, please feel free to review me. All flames will be ignored.

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	17. Just Another New Day Over the Hedge

**Spring Showers**

Chapter Seventeen: Just Another New Day Over the Hedge

"Come on, move it, move it!" RJ watched as the food from the Johansen's fridge went flying over his head. The raid was going even better than they had planned the day before. They were lucky enough that the little pooch that they thought that they would have to take care of was chained up outside. They thought they were pushing their luck when they found the secret candy stash that the mother had, and they thought they hit the jackpot when they discovered the snack cabinet stocked to the top with bags of potato chips, nachos, and cheesy curls.

"Get those sodas rolling!" Stella yelled out, she and Heather rolling out rows of their favorite diet soda out to the wagon outside.

"I still don't get why they like drinking this stuff over the regular soda." Ozzie hefted up the cans one at a time, passing them up to Tiger to arrange them in the wagon.

"I do not understand why either." Tiger admitted.

"Hey, Tiger, here's some more!" Stella came out to the porch with more of the soda with Heather right behind her. "I'll be back with some of your snacks." She gave him a little wink.

"But whatever makes her happy." Tiger grinned widely as Ozzie rolled his eyes.

"Okay, whatever." Ozzie sighed, taking a page from his daughter's dictionary of comebacks, seeing how whipped his partner was.

"Thanks, Dad!" Heather gave a quick kiss to her father's cheek before darting back into the kitchen. Ozzie stood there for a second and smiled, remembering his promise. He shook his head before he picked up another one of the cans of diet soda, only to catch Tiger smiling back at him. He scowled.

"What?" Tiger snickered.

"Say anything and I'll play dead." Ozzie threatened. "Then you'll have to load all of these cans yourself."

"Okay, whatever." Tiger grinned mischievously.

"Head's up!" Verne shouted out to them as he brought out some boxes of food and some juice with Lou and Penny.

"I wonder how this honey oat cluster stuff tastes like." Penny told her husband.

"I hope it tastes better than that granola we tried." Lou replied. "It tasted like cardboard." He grimaced at the thought of eating the organic stuff. "Thankfully, there were nuts with the granola to help with the taste."

"That's so true, dear." Penny agreed.

"What is that stuff?" Verne asked what Lou was carrying with him.

"Oh, it's just some fruit juice for the triplets." Lou answered.

"How come it's in those foil pack things? Don't we usually get juice in those gallon bottles?" Verne wondered.

"We think this will get the kids to drink more of the stuff." Penny said, showing off the weird, colorful designs on the individual foil packs."

"It's all about the packaging, you should know that by now Verne." RJ came up from behind and explained.

"Hey, where's Hammy? Wasn't he with you?" Verne asked him. RJ turned back to the kitchen.

"I think he's…"

"HERE I GO!" The family heard said squirrel from inside the kitchen. RJ and Verne rushed in to see Hammy standing precariously close to the edge of the top of the refrigerator…

before he ran and jumped off.

"HAMMY! NO!" RJ screamed as he watched Hammy fall. Time seemed to slow down for him, watching as he saw Hammy coming closer and closer to the ground. He couldn't believe why Hammy jumped. He sprinted as fast as he could to Hammy, but he knew that he wouldn't make it.

But still, he had to try. He couldn't lose Hammy. He couldn't bear it if…

"HAMMY!" RJ screamed out once more as he watched Hammy…

extend his hands out and seem to stop in midair.

"What the?" Verne looked to what kept Hammy from hitting the ground. Taking a few steps to the side, the light from the bright and shining moon outside revealed how Hammy did it.

"Hammy?" RJ looked up from the floor to Hammy, standing above him, slowly making his way down right in front of RJ.

"RJ, look!" Hammy pointed up to the high cabinets adjacent to the refrigerator. "I found more of your Spuddies!" Hammy said proudly, pointing out the stacks of chips in each of the cabinets. "Almost all of the flavors are there, and I think they even have some new ones, like pepper jack cheese, basil and tomato, and, and…" Hammy continued as he watched RJ pick himself up and walk to him. And grab him.

"Hammy." RJ spoke to him sternly. "Don't you ever do anything as dangerous as that ever again!" RJ pulled Hammy into his arms and hugged him tight. "Not even for those stupid Spuddies." RJ broke into a little laugh, surprised at his own words.

"Hammy!" Verne walked up to Hammy as RJ let him go from his hold. "Where in the world did you get this wire?" Verne took the thin, clear wire into his hand. Hammy smiled and took the wire from Verne's hands and gave it one good pull.

"What are you… OH MY GOODNESS!" Verne pulled himself into his shell as he saw the portable fishing pole fall from the top of the refrigerator. Hammy quickly darted, grabbing RJ's golf bag, and deftly caught the device in the bag, before handing it over to RJ.

"Very good job, Hammy." RJ grinned, feeling proud at Hammy's creativity in setting up such a complex job. "I never thought you had it in you."

"I'm not stupid, RJ, if that's what you're thinking." Hammy pouted.

"No, Hammy, I didn't mean that I…" RJ immediately began to apologize before a can of Spuddies popped up in front of him.

"But I do have a sense of humor, you know." Hammy pulled back the can of Spuddies from in front of RJ, smiling to him. RJ shook his head and smiled back at him.

"You know, one of these days…" RJ started before Hammy cut him off with a quick kiss to his lips.

"Come on, RJ, try some of them." Hammy pulled back, still holding the smile on his face, and pulled up the now open can of basil and tomato flavored Spuddies to him. RJ smiled and happily took a chip from the can, plopping it into his mouth and chewing it slowly to savor the chip. "With Spuddies, enough just isn't enough." Hammy recited the slogan on the can, remembering that RJ rather liked that particular slogan.

"Maybe." RJ gulped down the chip, sighing with satisfaction. "But that's just a potato chip." RJ pushed aside the can from Hammy and took his hand into his. "You're more than enough." RJ gave a quick kiss to the top of Hammy's head.

"Ahem."

"Oh, hey Verne." RJ pulled back from Hammy, surprised to see that Verne was already out of hiding in his shell, but didn't let go of Hammy's hand.

"Okay, you two lovebirds, come on." Verne shook his head resignedly and sighed. "Let's get those chips down from there and get out of here." Verne reminded them and immediately, the pair made their way to the cabinets to grab the Spuddies.

Verne turned away from the two and grinned. He'll never get sick of seeing those two break out into a deep red blush whenever he embarrasses them.

"Ah, you two." Verne watched as the raccoon and squirrel helped one another move the snack chips to the others below, big, wide grins spread across their faces.

"I'll never get enough of this." Verne walked over to the family and helped them move out the last of the food, carrying a big, wide grin of his own.

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♪La da da dum da, la da da dum da…♪

Hammy hummed to himself as he played RJ's soft, white chest fur. He listened to RJ's soft breathing and the sound of droplets of water falling to the ground from the open parasol above their heads. He recalled the events of last night that eventually led up to him resting on top of RJ now.

After the big feast the family had last night, they all decided to stay up a little and watch a bit of television to relax. For almost six hours, they had watched almost everything from horror to comedy, from heart racing action to sweet, overly dramatic romance. Despite the mock disapproval of the romance program that the two of them tried to keep up, they couldn't help but blush considering that the family kept on glancing up to them and smiling, noticing that RJ had his arm around him and he was resting up against his shoulder.

As the night wore on, one by one, the other family members made their way back to the log to rest after the long, rewarding night, first, Penny, Lou and the triplets, then Ozzie and Heather. He especially remembered saying good night to Heather, worried that she might be a little jealous about all the attention that RJ was lavishing on him. But seeing the smile on her face, devoid of any sign of malevolence, maybe even seeing a bit of happiness, put his worries to ease.

Verne was the last one to head back to the log.

"Good night, you two." Verne said to them. "Don't stay up to late, alright." He yawned before he started to trudge his way to bed.

"Good night, Verne! Sweet dreams!" He waved to his father figure enthusiastically. He watched as Verne looked back at him and RJ before continuing on his way to the log. He thought that maybe, when Verne looked back at them, he could almost swear that Verne was smiling at them.

It was probably a little before two, three, maybe even four o'clock when he decided that he should get a little rest.

"Good night, RJ." He held onto RJ's hands and leaned up and kissed him good night.

"Good night too, Hammy." He remembered RJ hugging him tight, rubbing his back gently, and pressing one more kiss to the top of his head.

They stayed together for a little while before he pulled back from RJ, the fatigue from the raid finally catching up to him, pressing him to get some sleep. He quietly moved back, smiling up to RJ, getting ready to make his way to the log for a good night's sleep.

CCCRRRAAACCCKKK!

The sky exploded in lights and sounds, lightning arcing across the sky, the thunder following, echoing through the suburbs and forest. In the distance, he could hear dogs barking angrily, startled by the explosion, and car alarms sounding, rocked by the power of the natural phenomena.

And eventually, with thunder and lightning, came the rain.

And oh how it came. Orbs of water just came crashing down from the sky, the lightning and thunder continuing to ravage the sky above him. A swift wind blew past him, feeling a few droplets hit him.

Just a few droplets, not a torrent of water. And he was warm and dry, not freezing cold and soaking wet. He came to his senses and realized why.

"Looks like you'll be sleeping here tonight." RJ smiled down to him, hugging him close to him as they watched the rain pour down in front of them, safe under the umbrella that RJ had apparently opened up when the lightning and thunder first struck. RJ must have come up from behind him without him noticing, too focused on the chaos above them now.

"I…" He could have told RJ that he could just run to the log. He could have told him that he wouldn't get wet at all, considering how fast he could run. He could have told him that it would be a little odd for them to be sleeping together, considering how the family would find them the following morning.

But it felt really good to be in RJ's arms right now.

"I would like that." He smiled up to RJ, much to RJ's delight.

"Come on, let's get some sleep already." RJ told him as he guided him back to the booster chair and helped him back up.

They soon discovered that the two of them wouldn't be able to sleep comfortably next to each other. However, instead, they worked out another, albeit 'interesting' way to sleep together.

"Good night, Hammy." RJ sighed as he made himself comfortable on the chair. "Sweet dreams." He gave a kiss to him after he had adjusted himself on top of RJ, laying his head on his chest.

"I'll see you there." Hammy yawned, smiling as he drifted off to join RJ in his… in their dreams.

And sweet dreams they were, Hammy thought to himself, continuing to play with RJ's fur. He breathed deep, enjoying the scent of RJ around him.

"♪ You are my sunshine, my only sunshine,

You make me happy when skies are grey…♪"

Hammy sang to his heart's delight, the song now holding a new, joyful meaning for him.

"♪ You'll never know dear how much I love you,… ♪"

"RJ!" Hammy looked up to see RJ's blue eyes looking to him lovingly.

"It's a nice song." RJ smiled to him, seeing the look of happy surprise on Hammy's face.

"Yeah, it really is." Hammy agreed.

"♪ Please don't take my sunshine away. ♪"

RJ finished the song, pressing a kiss to Hammy's lips, fully waking the two of them up. They laid there on the seat, just looking to one another, reading what was in one another's eyes.

"I could get used to sleeping this way." RJ started. "And waking up this way, too." He placed his hand over Hammy's cheek.

"Me, too." Hammy rubbed his face against RJ, cooing happily. "Me, too."

"I love you, Hammy." RJ hugged Hammy tight. Here he was, admitting his love for him, something that he still considered uncharacteristic of him.

He had thought of Hammy as his best friend, his true love, his world, his rock, his confidante, his inspiration, his whatever. But looking at Hammy now, one plain and simple fact reminded him.

He was Hammy, and that's all he really needed to be. And he loved him all the more for it. And he wasn't scared of declaring that fact to the world at all. He only felt prouder at the thought.

"Hey RJ, wanna get some breakfast?" Hammy suddenly perked up. "I think we have some bacon, egg, and cheese Spuddies!" Hammy tried to remember where they could be.

"Sure, Hammy. That sounds great." RJ smiled and ruffled the fur atop his head playfully. Hammy batted his hand away and pouted playfully.

"I love you, Hammy." RJ sighed, looking to the cute, manic squirrel.

"I love you too, RJ." Hammy giggled.

RJ sighed, remembering something that Verne had said to him when he first joined the family, now agreeing with his words wholeheartedly.

"This is the good life."

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"Hey RJ, have you seen Ha… " Verne stopped dead in his tracks, his mouth hanging open and his eyes flared open.

"Uh, good morning, Verne." Hammy waved to the turtle, still straddling RJ's waist, smiling a little uneasily.

…

"RJ!" Verne nearly exploded from his shell, scaring away all the early morning songbirds away, startling the now angrily barking dogs, and possibly setting off even a few annoying car alarms.

"Damn." RJ sighed as he rubbed his forehead, getting ready for the ranting and raving to come.

"You said it." Hammy added, looking down to RJ, half chuckling.

It was just another start to another spring day in the good life over the hedge.

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I hope that you have enjoyed this 'little' story from 'Over the Hedge,' characters from the inventive minds of Michael Fry and T. Lewis, and to DreamWorks Animation and Paramount Pictures for producing such a wonderful film.

Granted, there may be parts of this story that I may not be fully satisfied with, but overall, I believe that I did well enough. As always, if you have any advice or suggestions, please feel free to review me. All flames will be ignored.

Who knows, maybe I may continue on with this story.

We still have summer after all.

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